Struggling online portal Yahoo has fired chief executive Carol Bartz, the company announced late Tuesday, dpa reported.
Yahoo, which was one of the first internet directories but has since been eclipsed by Google, Facebook and others, said that Chief Financial Officer Tim Morse had been named interim CEO.
"The Board sees enormous growth opportunities on which Yahoo can capitalize, and our primary objective is to leverage the company's leadership and current business assets and platforms to execute against these opportunities," Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock said.
"On behalf of the entire board, I want to thank Carol for her service to Yahoo during a critical time of transition."
Bartz's ouster was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, which quoted an email sent by her to everyone in the company.
"To all, I am very sad to tell you that I've just been fired over the phone by Yahoo's chairman of the board," Bartz wrote in the email that went out late Tuesday. "It has been my pleasure to work with all of you and I wish you only the best going forward."
Bartz, 63, took over the company in early 2009 amid intense shareholder resentment of founder and then-CEO Jerry Yang who turned down a 47.5-billion-dollar buyout offer from Microsoft.
The company is now worth about 16.25 billion dollars, according to its closing price at the end of trading Tuesday. In the aftermath of Bartz's ouster the company's shares soared over 6 per cent in after-hours trading.