Internet
Yahoo! Closer to Naming New CEO: Report
TSC Staff
01/09/09 - 05:19 AM EST
Updated from 1:48 a.m. EST
Yahoo!(YHOO Quote) is in the final stretch of its search for a CEO, and among candidates still under consideration is Carol Bartz, the former CEO of Autodesk(ADSK Quote), the Wall Street Journal reports.
Bartz is "on the list," said a person familiar with the matter, adding she impressed the Yahoo! directors she has met so far, the Journal reports.
A decision on a new CEO at Yahoo! could come as soon as next week, according to the newspaper.
A Yahoo! spokesman declined to comment for the Journal.
Whether Bartz, who still serves as executive chairman of software company Autodesk, is a backup candidate or a front-runner remains unclear. People familiar with the matter said the board is leaning toward an external pick at this phase, as it winds down a search it announced in November. Former Vodafone(VOD Quote) CEO Arun Sarin, whom the Yahoo! board had been seriously considering, has withdrawn his name, the Journal reports.
Yahoo!'s board has yet to make an offer and is unlikely to before next week, the Journal reports. The company is hoping at the latest to announce a new CEO before it reports fourth-quarter earnings at the end of January.
Yahoo!'s founder Jerry Yang is preparing to step down as CEO after a firestorm erupted over his refusal to sell the company to Microsoft(MSFT Quote) at its last offer of $33 a share.
Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's CEO, has increased the pressure on Yahoo! to hand over control of its search business to Microsoft.
While ruling out a full acquisition of the Internet company, Ballmer said now is a good time to reach a deal as the companies undergo management transitions, according to the Financial Times.