Many Yahoo investors are sitting uncomfortably in their seats after it was revealed Yahoo’s new CEO Carol Bartz, brought in to supposedly make much needed improvements to the company, has sold two million dollars worth of shares since joining the company.
As The Guardian newspaper reports, the CEO has made two major sales in the past nine months, the first sale came in March, selling $830,000 very soon after joining the company, and the second one was completed in June, selling stock worth $1.14 million.
Bartz appears to not be the only one cashing out. Other high-level executives have sold shares including Mike Callahan, Yahoo’s general counsel, selling approximately $1.35 million worth of stock options.
While executives are entitled to sell the options that they had been given, shareholder Eric Jackson of IronFire Capital said that Bartz was sending the wrong message
“Two million already cashed out for Bartz is too much, too soon…doesn’t really fit with her ‘I didn’t need this job as I was retired’ image she portrays”.
In an internal memo acquired by The Guardian last week, Bartz stressed this:
“We are the largest media property on the internet.” “So get out of the sugar low – we have work to do. Stop staring at our navels, stop arguing with each other. Stop debate, debate, debate and let’s focus on the competition.”
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