Our Haute 100 list details the accomplishments of the most influential people in each of our markets—Miami, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. These people continue to make moves, so rather than waiting for the next Haute 100 issue to come out, we thought we’d provide you with regular updates on those Haute 100 members who are making headlines. Check back daily for more info on the most powerful people in your city. Today, we are happily featuring Yahoo! exec and apparent badass Carol Bartz, who caused quite a bit of contravercy this week when she told a reporter from Tech Crunch to “F**k off,” cementing her rep as a woman not to be messed with.
Carol Bartz
Category: Entrepreneurs
Company: Yahoo!
Industry: Technology
What MADE Her Haute: She’s been serving as the CEO and director of Yahoo! since 2006. Celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, Yahoo! is one of the most enduring brands to come out of Silicon Valley. Bartz is focused on small acquisitions and opportunities for Yahoo! to open up to new demographics.
What Makes Her Haute Now: Bartz was profiled by Esquire‘s Cal Fussman in last month’s “Women” issue, and my admiration for her increased tenfold after reading the piece. In the intro, Fussman writes, “One year into her role as CEO of Yahoo!, Bartz has proven herself to be aggressive, foulmouthed, and utterly likable.” Those first two qualities bubbled to the surface this week at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York City, when Bartz joined TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington for a fireside chat that quickly got…unpleasant. She has only been with Yahoo! one year, and while things are looking up for the company, Arrington was pressing her for not making more of an impact. Her response:
CB: Steve Jobs came back to Apple in 1997 — the iPod came out 4 years later. 3 years after that is the first time his market cap grew. It took 7 years. I’ve been here a few months. Give me a break. You are involved in a very tiny company.
MA: Very tiny.
CB: It probably takes you a long time just to convince yourself what to do. “So fuck off!”
