New Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz is tech veteran

Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz

(Credit: Autodesk)

Former Autodesk Chief Executive Carol Bartz, 60, will be the new CEO at Yahoo. Here is more information on who she is and what she faces in her new role.

Education

Bachelor's degree in computer science at the University of Wisconsin at Madison

Resume

• Executive chairman of the board, Autodesk

• CEO, Autodesk, 1992-2006

• VP of worldwide field operations, at Sun Microsystems, 1983-1992

• Product Line and Sales Management positions at Digital Equipment and 3M

• Director on boards of Cisco Systems, Intel, NetApp

Awards

• President George W. Bush's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology

• 50 Most Powerful Women in Business, Fortune, 2005

• World's 30 Most Respected CEOs, Barron's, 2005

• 50 Women to Watch, The Wall Street Journal, 2005

Rivals

Yahoo President Sue Decker and former Vodafone Chief Executive Arun Sarin

Key challenges

• Capitalize on Yahoo's open strategy to gain more audience and market share

• Find the best online ad strategy in a market dominated by Google in search and in a recession vulnerable display advertising sector

• Decide what parts of the company to maintain and which to get rid of

• Figure out whether to be a technology company or a media company and offer a clear message

Quotes

• "You must fail. If you don't fail, you don't know the degrees of success... I think failure's a very important part of life." 1997

• "I believe in telling people what I feel, and then I move on. I don't play poker because you could read everything I'm thinking. It's tough for me to be around people who aren't direct. It drives me crazy." 2005