Yahoo Ditches Last Vestiges Of The Worst Management Team In Tech

I've remarked a few times on here about the zoo over at Yahoo. And, it is a zoo. Yahoo was a brilliant idea and internet leader in its early days. Yet, the company has never had effective leadership needed to manage a mature business. Ever. So, after the easy money was made and competition starting popping up, Yahoo became an easy target. Semel, Decker and Yang were all incredibly incompetent managers. And, they were cumulatively paid hundreds of millions of dollars for doing anything and everything imaginable to bury Yahoo. An equally incompetent board sat on its hands until Carl Icahn took an interest in the company.

Yahoo's days as an entrepreneurial leader are likely over. But, that doesn't mean it can't settle into a mature business model and be a sustainable entity delivering 5-10% earnings growth over the years. That is, after we get through this mess.

Today Yahoo made a very interesting choice for their new CEO - Carol Bartz. I'm reasonably familiar with Bartz and I believe she is a proven leader who exhibits the necessary traits of a successful manager. The silly remarks by industry analysts that Bartz doesn't have media experience shows that most anyone with a pulse can become an industry analyst. Good management practices are not industry specific. And, Bartz built Autodesk into a software empire. That was not accomplished without a firm grasp of the media industry.

Remember, Yahoo's wounds are generally self-inflicted. Bartz has strong operational skills and leadership qualities that are nonexistent at Yahoo. She could provide the leadership Yahoo so desperately needs. Now, if the stock would only drop another 50%, it might be an interesting play.