New boss won't "feed Yahoo to the chickens"

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 28 Jan 2009 at 08:25

New Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz has issued a clear hands-off warning to Microsoft.

In her first public statement since taking the reins earlier this month, Carol Bartz said she has no intention of courting Redmond.

"Did I come to Yahoo to sell the company? The answer is no," Bartz told analysts, after revealing better than expected fourth-quarter results. "This is not a company that needs to be pulled apart and left for the chickens."

Bartz's statement may finally put an end to the on/off speculation that has dogged Yahoo and Microsoft since the software giant tabled a bid for the internet company last year.

Former CEO Jerry Yang fell on his sword after refusing to sell to Microsoft, only to see a search deal with Google collapse, forcing him to practically beg Steve Ballmer to buy the company shortly before he resigned.

Speculation of a fresh deal with Microsoft was fuelled by reports that Bartz spoke to Steve Ballmer within hours of taking over at Yahoo. However, Bartz believes Yahoo's best chance of turning the company around hinges on keeping the core search business.

Bartz does concede that major action will need to be taken to overhaul Yahoo, which posted a loss of over $300 million for the quarter. "It's my job to make sure that as a company we look at anything that makes sense long-term for the company and creates shareholder value," she said.

"It's very easy to have different shareholder interests. Some are short-term so they can jump out, and some long term. It's our job to make sure we're looking at the bell curve of shareholder value. Everything is on the table."