Yahoo Investors Push for CEO Search to Start With Outsiders

By Crayton Harrison

Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Yahoo! Inc. investors say the search to replace Chief Executive Officer Jerry Yang should focus on a turnaround artist from outside the Internet company who can draw Microsoft Corp. back into takeover talks.

Yahoo announced plans this week to replace Yang, fueling speculation the board will seek to woo Microsoft back. Hiring an insider such as President Susan Decker may signal Yahoo is planning ``more of the same,'' limiting the likelihood of new talks, said Darren Bagwell, director of equity research at Thrivent Asset Management Inc.

``Who's kidding who? We all know what the endgame is,'' said Bagwell, whose Appleton, Wisconsin-based firm had about $73 billion in assets under management, including Yahoo shares, as of September. ``The board finally recognizes that there's frustration and change is required.''

Possible candidates include former Yahoo executives Ellen Siminoff and Dan Rosensweig, he said. Whoever takes the job will be charged with rejuvenating a stock that has plunged by more than half since Yang took over and shoring up Internet advertising sales that are increasingly falling behind those of Google Inc.

UBS AG analyst Ben Schachter identified News Corp. President Peter Chernin and former EBay Inc. chief Meg Whitman as potential choices. Either may balk at joining a company that's only being prepared for a sale, according to Bagwell.

``Why would Chernin, Whitman or somebody like that really want to sign up for Yahoo?'' Bagwell said. ``If I were a betting man, I'd be leaning more toward a pick that's less high profile, probably somebody more operationally focused.''

Yahoo rose 92 cents, or 8.7 percent, to $11.55 yesterday on the Nasdaq Stock Market after Yang said he would step down once a successor is found. Microsoft advanced 43 cents to $19.62.

Siminoff's Side

Siminoff, a Yahoo senior vice president until 2002 and now chairman of Efficient Frontier Inc., declined to say whether Yahoo had contacted her.

``Yahoo's been down before but not out,'' she said in a phone interview yesterday. ``Jerry truly wants what is best for the company. If he stepped down, it meant that he thought it was time for a change.''

Chernin and Rosensweig, a former Yahoo chief operating officer, didn't return phone messages. EBay's Whitman couldn't be reached. Yahoo spokeswoman Kim Rubey declined to comment. The company confirmed yesterday that Decker, 46, is a candidate. Yahoo has hired Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. to help find a new leader.

Microsoft backed away from a $47.5 billion takeover bid for Yahoo this year. Less than two weeks ago, CEO Steve Ballmer said he has no interest in buying Yahoo. Frank Shaw, a spokesman for the Redmond, Washington-based software maker, declined to comment.

No Guarantees

``There's no guarantee that Microsoft comes back,'' said Clay Moran, an analyst at Stanford Group Co. in Boca Raton, Florida. ``You've got to create a strategy based on the expectation of being a stand-alone company.''

Yang, 40, will return to his role as Chief Yahoo, overseeing strategy, partnerships and recruiting with co-founder David Filo. His successor will face a deteriorating market for online advertising, thanks to the global economic crisis and a U.S. recession. Clients in the finance, travel, retail and automotive industries are cutting spending, Yang said last month.

Yang planned to expand Yahoo's share of the online advertising market by spending on technology to make the ad- buying process faster. His replacement will have to do more to help Yahoo catch Google, said Mark May, an analyst at Needham & Co. in New York.

``Where they've fallen behind the most is probably in terms of technological innovation and engineering,'' said May, who advises holding on to Yahoo shares. ``A media-centric CEO is probably not the right fit right now.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Crayton Harrison in Dallas at tharrison5@bloomberg.net.