Carol Bartz

Carol Bartz
Bartz at her first Yahoo! all hands meeting (2009)
Carol Bartz
Born	Carol Ann Bartz 28 8, 1948
Birthplace	Winona, Minnesota, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Business executive
Known for	Former CEO of Yahoo!, former CEO of Autodesk
Awards	Forbes Power Women list (2011)

Carol Ann Bartz (born August 28, 1948) is an American business executive who served as the chief executive officer of Yahoo! from January 2009 to September 2011 and as chairman, president, and CEO of Autodesk, the architectural and engineering design software company, for more than a decade. Born in Winona, Minnesota, Bartz rose through the ranks of the technology industry during an era when women in executive leadership positions in Silicon Valley were rare. She built her reputation through a long and consequential tenure at Autodesk, where she transformed the company from a niche software maker into a global enterprise, before being recruited to lead Yahoo! during one of the most turbulent periods in the internet company's history. Known in the technology world for her direct, candid management style, Bartz became one of the most prominent women in American business, earning a place on the Forbes list of the world's most powerful women. Her career has spanned decades in the technology sector, encompassing executive roles, corporate board service, and public commentary on leadership and entrepreneurship.

Early Life

Carol Ann Bartz was born on August 28, 1948, in Winona, Minnesota. She grew up in the Midwestern United States, an upbringing that observers and colleagues have noted shaped her forthright communication style and practical approach to business challenges.

Bartz's early life was marked by personal hardship. She lost her mother at a young age and was raised in part by her grandmother on a farm in Wisconsin. These formative experiences, which she has discussed publicly in interviews over the years, instilled in her a sense of resilience and self-reliance that would characterize her leadership style throughout her career. Bartz has spoken about the influence of her Midwestern roots and family circumstances on her willingness to speak bluntly and take risks in business settings.

Education

Bartz attended William Woods University, a private university in Fulton, Missouri, where she began her higher education. She subsequently enrolled at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she studied computer science. Her education in computer science at Wisconsin provided the technical foundation for her career in the technology industry, which she entered at a time when the field was undergoing rapid expansion and transformation. Bartz has credited her technical education with giving her credibility and confidence in an industry dominated by engineers and software developers.

Career

Early Career and Rise in Technology

After completing her education, Bartz entered the technology industry and built her career through a series of positions at major technology companies. She gained experience in sales, marketing, and management, developing the executive skills that would later define her leadership roles. Her early career trajectory reflected a pattern of increasing responsibility and demonstrated an ability to navigate the competitive landscape of Silicon Valley during its formative decades.

Prior to joining Autodesk, Bartz held positions at Sun Microsystems, where she served as a vice president, gaining significant experience in enterprise technology sales and operations. Her time at Sun Microsystems was instrumental in building her network within Silicon Valley and establishing her reputation as an effective technology executive.

Autodesk (1992–2006)

Bartz's tenure at Autodesk represented the longest and, by many measures, the most consequential chapter of her career. She joined the company as its chief executive officer in April 1992 and served in that role for fourteen years, also holding the titles of chairman and president during her time with the company.

When Bartz arrived at Autodesk, the company was a maker of AutoCAD software used primarily by architects, engineers, and designers. Under her leadership, Autodesk expanded its product lines, grew its global operations, and substantially increased its revenue and market capitalization. She oversaw the company's transition from a single-product firm into a diversified software enterprise with products spanning multiple design disciplines.

During her years at Autodesk, Bartz became one of the most prominent female CEOs in the technology sector. She was recognized for her management style, which combined technical understanding with a direct, no-nonsense approach to corporate leadership. Her tenure at Autodesk was characterized by steady growth and strategic acquisitions that broadened the company's reach into new markets, including digital entertainment, manufacturing, and geographic information systems.

Bartz stepped down as CEO of Autodesk in 2006, leaving behind a company that had been fundamentally transformed during her fourteen-year leadership. Her departure was planned and orderly, and she transitioned into a role that included corporate board service at several major technology companies.

Yahoo! Appointment (2009)

On January 13, 2009, Yahoo! announced that Bartz had been appointed as the company's new chief executive officer, replacing co-founder Jerry Yang, who had stepped down amid controversy over his handling of a proposed acquisition by Microsoft.

Bartz's appointment was met with a mixture of optimism and scrutiny. Observers noted her long track record at Autodesk and her reputation as a decisive, operationally focused executive. However, questions were raised about whether her experience in enterprise software would translate to the fast-moving world of internet consumer services, where Yahoo! competed against Google and an emerging Facebook.

In her first week at Yahoo!, Bartz sent a company-wide memo outlining her priorities and management philosophy. The memo, which was widely reported in the technology press, emphasized her intention to bring focus and accountability to Yahoo!'s operations. She expressed a desire to streamline the company's sprawling portfolio of products and services and to re-establish Yahoo!'s competitive position in the internet marketplace.

Bartz's compensation package at Yahoo! included an annual salary of $1 million and a bonus target of $2 million, along with significant stock-based compensation, making her one of the highest-paid executives in the technology industry at the time of her appointment.

Tenure at Yahoo! (2009–2011)

Bartz's time as CEO of Yahoo! lasted approximately two years and eight months and was marked by significant organizational changes, strategic partnerships, and ongoing competitive challenges. She inherited a company that was struggling to define its identity in an internet landscape increasingly dominated by Google in search advertising and Facebook in social networking.

One of Bartz's early strategic moves was to negotiate a search partnership with Microsoft, under which Yahoo! would use Microsoft's Bing search engine to power its search results. The deal was intended to allow Yahoo! to reduce its investment in search technology while maintaining a share of search advertising revenue. The partnership represented a significant strategic shift for Yahoo!, which had long invested heavily in its own search infrastructure.

Bartz also undertook efforts to reorganize Yahoo!'s corporate structure, which had become unwieldy under previous leadership. She consolidated business units, eliminated redundant positions, and sought to impose greater operational discipline on the company's diverse portfolio of web properties, which included Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo! Sports, and Flickr, among others.

Despite these efforts, Yahoo!'s financial performance during Bartz's tenure did not meet the expectations of investors and analysts. The company's share of the online advertising market continued to decline relative to Google, and Yahoo!'s overall revenue growth remained sluggish. The Microsoft search partnership, while reducing costs, did not produce the competitive gains that some had anticipated, and Yahoo!'s display advertising business faced increasing pressure from Facebook and other emerging platforms.

Critics pointed to several factors that hampered Bartz's ability to turn Yahoo! around. The company faced deep structural challenges, including an aging technology infrastructure, a fragmented product strategy, and a corporate culture that some observers described as resistant to change. Additionally, Bartz's background in enterprise software, while lending operational rigor, may not have fully prepared her for the consumer-facing, advertising-driven business model that was central to Yahoo!'s operations.

Bartz's compensation during her time at Yahoo! attracted scrutiny. In 2010, the executive compensation advisory firm Glass Lewis named her among the most overpaid CEOs in corporate America, citing a disconnect between her compensation and Yahoo!'s stock performance and financial results.

Dismissal from Yahoo! (2011)

On September 6, 2011, Yahoo!'s board of directors terminated Bartz as CEO. She was informed of her dismissal by telephone, a detail that became widely reported and discussed in the business and technology press. Tim Morse, the chief financial officer whom Bartz had brought into the company early in her tenure, was named interim CEO while the board conducted a search for a permanent replacement.

Bartz's response to her firing was characteristically blunt. She sent an email to the entire Yahoo! workforce informing them directly of what had happened, telling employees that she had been "fired over the phone by Yahoo's Chairman of the Board." The email was notable for its directness and lack of the diplomatic language typically associated with executive departures. Bartz's willingness to communicate openly about her firing was praised by some commentators as refreshing candor, while the broader circumstances of her departure underscored the challenges that Yahoo! faced as a company.

The dismissal came after approximately thirty months in the role. Following Bartz's departure, Yahoo! would go through additional leadership changes before ultimately being acquired by Verizon Communications in 2017.

Post-Yahoo! Career and Board Service

Following her departure from Yahoo!, Bartz remained active in the technology and business communities. She served on the boards of directors of several major corporations, including Cisco Systems, where she contributed to governance and strategic oversight of one of the world's largest networking technology companies.

Bartz also joined the board of PlanGrid, a construction productivity software company, bringing her experience in design software and enterprise technology to the growing construction technology sector.

In the years following her departure from Yahoo!, Bartz became an active public speaker on topics including leadership, management, entrepreneurship, and the challenges facing women in the technology industry. In a 2012 interview with Knowledge at Wharton, she discussed lessons she had learned about dealing with difficult managers, choosing when to push back in corporate settings, and the importance of being willing to say "I don't know."

In 2018, Bartz shared her views on corporate leadership in an interview with CNBC, identifying three reasons why most CEOs are, in her assessment, "boring"—and how that tendency could be detrimental to employees and corporate culture. She argued for more authentic and direct communication from corporate leaders.

In 2019, Bartz spoke to Forbes about advice for entrepreneurs in the emerging cannabis industry, drawing on her decades of experience in the technology sector. She emphasized the importance of risk-taking and resilience, advising entrepreneurs to "fail" and "fast forward" rather than being paralyzed by setbacks.

Personal Life

Bartz has been noted for her direct communication style and candid public persona, traits she has attributed in part to her Midwestern upbringing and early life experiences. She has spoken publicly about overcoming personal adversity, including the loss of her mother during childhood and being raised in part by her grandmother.

Bartz is a breast cancer survivor, a fact she has discussed in public appearances and interviews. Her experience with the disease has informed her perspective on risk, resilience, and the importance of not deferring important decisions or goals.

In a 2009 profile, Fortune magazine noted several unusual facts about Bartz, including details about her personal interests and approach to life outside of the corporate boardroom.

Recognition

Bartz received significant recognition throughout her career as one of the most prominent women in the American technology industry. In 2011, Forbes ranked her number 37 on its list of the world's most powerful women, reflecting her position at the helm of Yahoo! and her broader influence in the technology sector.

Her inclusion on the Forbes Power Women list was one of several honors recognizing her role as a female executive in an industry where women have historically been underrepresented in senior leadership positions. Throughout her career, Bartz was frequently cited in media discussions about gender and leadership in Silicon Valley.

Bartz's candor and willingness to speak bluntly about corporate politics, management failures, and the realities of executive life earned her attention beyond the typical scope of CEO media coverage. Her email to Yahoo! employees following her firing in 2011 was widely discussed as an example of authentic leadership communication, and it contributed to public discourse about how corporate departures are handled and communicated.

She has been featured in publications including The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, CNBC, and numerous technology industry outlets for her views on leadership, management, and the technology industry.

Legacy

Carol Bartz's career is notable for spanning two distinct eras of the technology industry. At Autodesk, she led a company through a period of sustained growth and diversification over fourteen years, establishing herself as one of the longest-serving and most effective CEOs in the design software sector. At Yahoo!, she confronted the challenges of leading a once-dominant internet company through a period of structural decline and intense competitive pressure.

Her tenure at Yahoo!, while ultimately cut short, highlighted the difficulties inherent in turning around large internet companies facing disruption from newer competitors. The challenges she encountered—including a fragmented product portfolio, a changing advertising landscape, and competition from Google and Facebook—were structural issues that continued to affect the company under subsequent leaders and ultimately led to its acquisition by Verizon.

Bartz's legacy also includes her role as a prominent female executive during a period when women remained significantly underrepresented in the C-suites of major technology companies. Her career at Autodesk and Yahoo! placed her among a small number of women who led major publicly traded technology firms, and her public commentary on leadership and corporate culture has contributed to broader discussions about management practices in the technology industry.

Her post-executive career as a board member, speaker, and commentator has extended her influence beyond her operational roles. Through board service at companies such as Cisco Systems and PlanGrid, and through public speaking and media appearances, Bartz has continued to shape conversations about leadership, entrepreneurship, and the evolving technology landscape.