Yahoo stock rises on end of CEO search rumours

Beleaguered IT major Yahoo climbed in pre-market trading, on reports that it's near the end of its CEO search. The stock was up 47 cents just after 8:25 am ET, advancing to $13.54. If pre-market gains hold, the stock will open at its highest level in a month.

Ex-Autodesk Inc. CEO Carol Bartz has emerged as a candidate to run Yahoo as replacement for founder and recently resigned CEO Jerry Yang, a report said today. The Wall Street Journal reported said a decision could come as early as next week. The paper quoted an unnamed "person familiar with the matter" who said Bartz has impressed Yahoo board members she has met so far.

Whether Bartz is a backup candidate or a front-runner remains unclear. People familiar with the matter said the board is leaning toward an external pick at this phase, as it winds down a search it formally announced on 17 November. Former Vodafone Group PLC CEO Arun Sarin, whom the Yahoo board had been seriously considering, has reportedly withdrawn his name. (See: Vodafone's Arun Sarin could be new Yahoo CEO: Report)

Bartz is executive chairman of San Rafael-based Autodesk. She was CEO from 1992 to 2006. A former executive at Sun Microsystems Inc., she is on the board of Cisco Systems Inc with Yang, and on the board of Intel Corp with Yahoo President Susan Decker. She is a BA in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin.

Autodesk is an American multinational corporation that focuses on 2D and 3D design software for use in architecture, engineering and building construction, manufacturing, and media and entertainment. It has arguably become best known due to its flagship computer-aided design software AutoCAD. Today, Autodesk is the world's largest design software company, with more than 9 million users throughout the world, and the company was recently named number 25 on Fast Company's list of "The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies.''

Choosing Bartz would indicate that Yahoo is looking for a steady hand who has run a public company over someone with internet and online advertising experience.

If the board heads in that direction, the company could also seek to hire another senior executive with more extensive consumer product experience, which analysts and investors argue Yahoo needs to better compete with Google Inc. and other rivals.