Carol Bartz accepted what may be the biggest challenge of her career when she agreed to take on the post of Yahoo CEO. The venerable search engine's stock rose nearly two points on the news, and then promptly fell seven percent. In this article we'll take a look at Bartz's background and what the future holds for the beleaguered search engine.
It's important to note that 60-year-old Bartz was Yahoo's first choice for the position of CEO, now that co-founder Jerry Yang is stepping down from that post. Ray Bostock, chairman of Yahoo's board of directors, said as much when he introduced her. He said a lot of other nice things about her, too. So why is Bostock “very excited to have Carol Bartz leading Yahoo into its next era of growth”?
Let's look at Bartz's background. When Yahoo co-founders Jerry Yang and David Filo were busy putting Yahoo together and getting their new creation off the ground, Bartz was already a veteran in her industry. In fact, at about the same time Yahoo was founded, Bartz was busy being CEO of Autodesk, a maker of computer-aided design software. She went on to hold that position for 14 years, eventually becoming its executive chairman.
So how did she do? It would be no exaggeration to say that she transformed the company. During her tenure, revenues increased from less than $300 million to more than $1.5 billion, and the company's share price increased nearly ten-fold. No doubt Yahoo's shareholders fervently hope that Bartz will be able bring a little of that magic to their struggling firm. Nor is Autodesk the only company with which Bartz can claim experience; she's held important leadership roles at companies such as Sun Microsystems, Digital Equipment and 3M.
She is certainly the “seasoned technology executive” that Bostock called her in the press release. Other qualities she brings to the post include “deep management expertise, strong customer orientation, excellent people skills” and a “firm understanding of the challenges facing our industry,” according to Yahoo's press release. She will need every one of these skills, and then some, to get Yahoo out of its current mess.
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