Most estimates agree that there are almost 7 billion human beings on this planet, and even the biggest misanthropes must admit that a few of them are smart and capable. Yahoo apparently wasn’t able to encounter any keepers, however, as it’s stopped searching for someone to lead the company’s international division.
This position opened up in February of 2009 as Carol Bartz really began to reshape operations at Yahoo. Now, as reported by John Letzing, Bartz said during yesterday’s earnings call, "I didn’t find anyone who was up to our needs."
Some critics might take this as an admission of defeat; it seems a bit ridiculous that a year-long hunt didn’t turn up anything. Or perhaps even scary, if Yahoo located some qualified candidates, but said candidates didn’t want to work for the company.
Still, the timing of Bartz’s announcement goes a long ways towards making things look better. Yahoo’s Q4 report was pretty good, after all – its stock rose in after-hours trading and is still headed up this morning – so this position appears to be less than critical.
When everything’s said and done, the new plan is for three Yahoo executives (Hilary Schneider, Rose Tsou, and Rich Riley) representing the Americas, Asia, and EMEA to report directly to Bartz.
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