With CEO gone, Yahoo could soon be for sale
Steve Chiotakis: There’s been a big shakeup at the media and tech giant Yahoo. Its CEO, Carol Bartz, was fired by the company’s board of directors, who complained about stagnant revenues.
But there are reports today Yahoo is preparing to hire investment bankers and other advisers as the company figures out what to do next. Some say that could mean Yahoo is on the market.
Henry Blodget blogs about it at the Business Insider. Good morning Henry.
Henry Blodget:Good morning.
Chiotakis: Do you think the company is going to sell? I mean, is this just posturing?
Blodget: No, I think it is definitely for sale. I think the fact that the board removed the CEO and then announced that they were going to hire a strategic adviser to hire a new CEO, while at the same time saying, “But we would certainly would listen to outside bidders,” suggests that they will entertain offers. And if the offers come in and are good, then they don’t have to hire a CEO. Then that relieves them of that burden
Chiotakis: What does the company have to offer? I mean, Yahoo seems like an afterthought in a lot of new media and tech discussions going on these days?
Blodget: They really do. Unfortunately over the past ten years, Yahoo has really lost ground — to Google, to Facebook, to other companies. Fortunately, the user base and the Yahoo brand are still incredibly strong.
Chiotakis: What type of company do you think, Henry, is the best fit for Yahoo?
Blodget: Well I think for a buyer, you would probably be looking at a traditional media company. I don’t actually think that that’s the best outcome for Yahoo right now. I think the best course of action is to hire a CEO with a real vision and understanding of the industry. And I worry that if a traditional media company takes it over, that you’ll have the same sort of attempts to conform the digital business to a lot of traditional media businesses, which certainly has not worked well in the past.
Chiotakis: Henry Blodget, CEO and editor-in-chief of Business Insider. Henry, thanks.
Blodget: Thank you.
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