Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz fired on the phone

Yahoo Inc said on Tuesday it has removed CEO Carol Bartz and replaced her on an interim basis with Chief Financial Officer Tim Morse, ending a rocky two-year run marked by stagnating growth and a bitter rift with Chinese partner Alibaba.

The outspoken Bartz, famous for her salty language, in a two-sentence email to employees obtained by Reuters said that Chairman Roy Bostock fired her over the phone.

[caption id=“attachment_77813” align=“alignright” width=“380” caption=“Yahoo stocks edged up after CEO Carol Bartz was fired on Tuesday. Robert Galbraith / Reuters”] [/caption]

“I am very sad to tell you that I’ve just been fired over the phone by Yahoo’s Chairman of the Board. It has been my pleasure to work with all of you and I wish you only the best going forward,” Bartz said in the email.

Bostock had only just voiced his public support in June for the CEO, a lightning rod for criticism from Wall Street, and known for her tough attitude.

Shares in the company rose in after-hours trade to $13.72, from a close of $12.91 on the Nasdaq.

The news was first reported by tech blog AllThingsD , which cited company sources.

Announcing the change at the top, Bostock said:“We have talented teams and tremendous resources behind them and intend to return the company to a path of robust growth and industry-leading innovation… We are committed to exploring and evaluating possibilities and opportunities that will put Yahoo on a trajectory for growth and innovation and deliver value to shareholders.”

Under Bartz, Yahoo went through at least two major rounds of job cuts as part of an effort to focus on the company’s core strengths. But in the end, she may have been undone by the way in whichtwo of Yahoo’s minority investments in Yahoo Japan and in the Alibaba Group were mishandled.

With inputs from Reuters