Home > Government/Industries > IT Industry

IDG News Service - Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz was backed by the company's chairman at the start of the company's annual shareholder meeting on Thursday, but got ripped by an investor who called for her resignation.

Yahoo's board is rumored to be talking to possible CEO replacements, but Roy Bostock said no such thing is in the works and that Bartz has the confidence of the directors because under her guidance, Yahoo has made "demonstrable progress."

"We still have a lot of work to do to deliver the kind of value we want to deliver to our shareholders. This is indeed a work in progress but this management team has built a strong foundation," Bostock said.

However, an investor, who said he also advises institutional investors with large stakes in the company, blasted Bartz for a variety of things, including the company's stock price, its latest conflict with Alibaba Group and its overall market strategy.

At this point, Bartz should resign, he said. "The last thing Yahoo needs right now is a lame-duck CEO. The buyout talks over your contract need to start today and a search needs to be accelerated."

The shareholder spoke for several minutes and didn't mince words in his criticism of Bartz, saying that the upbeat tone of her prepared remarks at the meeting painted an unrealistic picture of what he considers to be a deeply troubled company.

"No more excuses, no more victory laps," he said.

When he was finished speaking, she thanked him and said: "That was certainly a downer." The meeting ended on that note.

All Yahoo directors, including Bartz, won re-election to the board at the meeting. Bartz's CEO contract ends in January 2013.

In May, Yahoo got into its latest tussle with Alibaba Group, the Chinese company in charge of Yahoo's brand and services in that country. Yahoo owns a 43% stake in Alibaba Group worth about $2.3 billion.

Yahoo accused Alibaba Group of spinning off its Alipay online payment unit to a Chinese company controlled by Alibaba CEO Jack Ma without Yahoo's knowledge.

Alibaba countered, saying that it had kept Yahoo's board members informed about the situation, which was driven by new regulations requiring that for Alipay to obtain a license, it needed to be spun off.

Eventually, the companies issued a joint statement saying they were working to draft a solution to the issue. This week they issued another statement reiterating that discussions are continuing. Yahoo is seeking compensation for the diminished value of its stake in Alibaba Group now that Alipay is no longer part of it.

Another difficult situation for Bartz is the search partnership she brokered with Microsoft, which isn't yielding the expected revenue for Yahoo so far.