Today's Outrage: Yahoo!'s Yang Gets Yanked

Jerry Yang's exit from the CEO role at Yahoo! (YHOO Quote) was inevitable.

The big question is why Yahoo! is even bothering to look for a replacement. Surely Microsoft (MSFT Quote) will want to put its own cronies in charge. Isn't that inevitable, too?

Yang fought Microsoft's overtures and the $33-per-share takeover offer, Yahoo! shares have dropped to about $10, and now Yang's stepping aside. That's no coincidence.

Personally, I feel bad for Yang. He never had a fighting chance. The stock market collapsed out from under him as the crisis in the financial sector engulfed everything in its path. The economic slowdown is now heading straight into recession, and online advertising is shriveling up.

Yahoo! may well have been better off without Microsoft. But it looks like we'll never know.