Carol Bartz, former chief executive of software company Autodesk, is the new head of internet giant Yahoo!
The company announced her appointment as chief executive, effective immediately, two months after co-founder Jerry Yang stepped down from the post.
Ms Bartz, 60, served as president, chairman and chief executive of Autodesk from 1992 to April 2006 and has been serving as executive chairman of the board of the company, which is based in San Rafael, California, and has about 7,000 employees.
Roy Bostock, the chairman of the board, said: "We are very excited to have Carol Bartz leading Yahoo! into its next era of growth.
"She is the exact combination of seasoned technology executive and savvy leader that the board was looking for, and we are thrilled to have attracted such a world-class talent to Yahoo!.
Ms Bartz said: "There is no denying that Yahoo! has faced enormous challenges over the last year, but I believe there is now an extraordinary opportunity to create value for our shareholders and new possibilities for our customers, partners and employees. We will seize that opportunity."
Mr Yang, who angered many Yahoo! share-holders last year for rejecting a $47 billion takeover offer from Microsoft, announced in November that he was stepping down after little over a year as chief executive.
Ms Bartz, one of the leading women in the technology sector, is admired for her management skills and ability to cut deals.
She previously worked at Sun Microsystems, Digital Equipment, and 3M and sits on the boards of Cisco Systems and Intel.
A member of President Bush's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, she has been named to Fortune magazine's list of the "50 Most Powerful Women in Business" and to Barron's list of the "World's 30 Most Respected CEOs.
However, the bulk of her experience has been in software and hardware aimed at enterprise, not in the internet, consumer media or advertising — Yahoo!'s core businesses.
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