Yahoo! yesterday announced it had recruited a new CEO, Carol Bartz, currently Chairman of software firm Autodesk Inc. Despite Bartz's long and successful career in IT, the appointment was met with some disappointment on Wall Street, where city types had hoped for a new chief with experience in negotiating high profile media and technology deals.
As previously reported, Yahoo! has been looking for a new top man since Jerry Yang, a co-founder of the web firm, agreed to stand down last year after a difficult year for the company. Yang had annoyed Yahoo! shareholders by failing to pursue Microsoft's takeover offer - an offer Yang was known to dislike, but which was popular with some key shareholders.
Shares in Yahoo! fell 3.6% after Bartz's appointment was announced.