Yahoo names Bartz new CEO
President resigns as Carol Bartz takes over the embattled Internet company.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Yahoo Inc. announced Tuesday that it had hired veteran technology executive Carol Bartz as its new CEO.
Separately, Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) said President Sue Decker will resign after a transitional period.
Bartz ran software company Autodesk (ADSK) for 14 years, most recently serving as executive chairwoman. San Rafael, Calif.-based Autodesk, with just over 7,000 employees worldwide, is about half the size of Yahoo.
Bartz is taking over an embattled Yahoo. In mid-November, co-founder Jerry Yang stepped down after failed attempts to improve the company's performance.
Yang oversaw the company during a high-profile acquisition bid last year by Microsoft Corp. (MSFT, Fortune 500), as well as investor Carl Icahn's failed attempt to replace the Yahoo board.
In a conference call Tuesday, Bartz acknowledged "the many problems" Yahoo is facing.
Bartz declined to discuss details of her plans for Yahoo. "But I can say my focus is on turning this company around and creating value for the shareholder," she said.
The board approached Bartz in December, she said.
Bartz, calling herself "a straight shooter," condemned "the external forces" that have battered Yahoo over the past year.
"Everybody on the outside was deciding what Yahoo should and shouldn't do," she said. "That's going to stop."
Yahoo will report fourth-quarter earnings Jan. 27, Bartz said. Shares fell 1% Tuesday to $12.10.
Bartz was chairman, president and CEO of Autodesk from 1992 to 2006. Under her tenure, the company's revenue grew from $285 million to more than $1.5 billion. Previously, she was an executive at Sun Microsystems Inc. (JAVA, Fortune 500)
Bartz sits on the board of Intel Corp., (INTC, Fortune 500) Cisco Systems (CSCO, Fortune 500), NetApp (NTAP) and the Foundation for the National Medals of Science and Technology. President George Bush appointed her to his Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
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