Yahoo! CEO sacked over the phone

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‘Not too late’

But Mr Chowdhry told Channel 4 News it is not too late for Yahoo! to turn itself around.

“Yahoo! is still a very strong brand. They have the resources to succeed, they just don’t have a leader.

“I don’t think it’s the end. They can re-image themselves, but they need to be bold and aggressive.”

He told Channel 4 that Yahoo!’s failure to pursue untapped markets, such as mobile phone payments, has prompted advertisers to take their money elsewhere.

“If you can’t explain your strategy clearly, then your customers and your advertisers are going to leave.

“Yahoo! needs to stop being a participant in someone else’s field and start creating and owning markets.”

Rocky relationships

Relations between Yahoo! and Alibaba had soured since Bartz took over as CEO, with Alibaba founder Jack Ma failing in an attempt to buy out its US partner’s stake.

The tumultuous relationship between the two companies came to a head in May when it emerged Alibaba had handed one of its most successful subsidiaries, Alipay, to a company controlled by Ma, without Yahoo!’s knowledge.

‘Growth opportunities’

After news of Ms Bartz’s departure spread across the internet and social networking site Twitter, the Yahoo! board posted a statement on its website, confirming that Ms Bartz had been removed by the board of directors with immediate effect.

Roy Bostock, chairman of Yahoo!’s board, said: “On behalf of the entire board, I want to thank Carol for her service to Yahoo! during a critical time of transition in the company’s history, and against a very challenging macro-economic backdrop.”

He added that he saw “enormous growth opportunities” for the firm.

Some unlikely contenders have put their hand up to replace Ms Bartz. Rapper Snoop Dogg claimed he could step in as “Double GEO”, tweeting to his four million followers:

Im takn over as tha CEO of Yahoo. Need sum of tha Snoop Dogg content ya digg. Nuff Said.