A New Sheriff In Yahoo Town Is Shaking Things Up

Bartz, former CEO of San Rafael, Calif.-based software maker Autodesk, took over as Yahoo's chief executive in January, replacing co-founder Jerry Yang. News reports Monday suggested she is preparing a major shuffle of top executive positions at Yahoo, though the company itself has declined to confirm those rumors.

Among the speculated changes are adding product strategy and management duties to the portfolio of Aristotle Balogh, Yahoo's chief technology officer, and making Hilary Schneider, currently in charge of the Yahoo! U.S. division's marketing efforts, the head of all North America. Bartz is also reportedly looking for a chief marketing officer and other senior executives, and could be planning to name a single executive in charge of its European, Asian and emerging markets divisions.

Bartz is preparing to "severely roll back" an earlier Yahoo organizational reshuffle by Yang last June, according to "All Things Digital." host and blogger Kara Swisher. The earlier shakeup split Yahoo into four regional entities. Bartz reportedly wants to scrap that setup and retrench corporate efforts in a more centralized way.

Yahoo has already said that Susan Decker, the company's president, would step down at some point following the hiring of Bartz. Jill Nash, Yahoo's chief communications officer, is also expected to leave. The company also has plans to downsize its workforce by at least 10 percent and Bartz has said she will freeze pay for some Yahoo employees.

Yahoo's rough 2007 included a drop in investor confidence after Yang spurned an acquisition offer from Microsoft of Redmond, Wash. The software giant has hired several executives away from Yahoo in recent months.