Yahoo!'s Carol Bartz Cancels CES Keynote

Carol Bartz has a pretty electric personality and she's often referred to as "Hurricane Carol." As the leader of a struggling web portal, she makes for an interesting speaker and her participation in CES 2010 was announced by the Consumer Electronics Association last month. However, Tech Trader Daily noticed something odd about a CEA press release sent out on Tuesday.

CEA Tuesday announced that Qualcomm's Paul Jacobs would be appearing at the event, joining speakers from Microsoft, Intel, Ford, Hisense and Nokia. As TTD points out, there's no mention of Carol Bartz. A quick trip to the CEA website shows no sign of Carol or her scheduled keynote.

CNet reports that a spokesperson for Yahoo! says changes in Carol's calendar mean it isn't possible for her to attend the event but the rep refused to elaborate.

Why do you think Carol canceled her appearance? She recently canceled an appearance at the Web 2.0 conference because of a flu but this clearly isn't the case as CES is still months away. Let us know what you think in the comments below!

  • tayb
    I'm just trying think of something positive to say about Yahoo and their business strategy the past 5-6 years. Can't do it. The only thing I remember about Carol was her Ed McMahon esque email to all of her employees right after she became the CEO.
    Reply
  • mrddr6
    What I'd like to know is, how many people really care about this news? Just curious.
    Reply
  • dark_lord69
    I think she is ebarrased by the company and no longer has faith in thier desictions. They should have sold to microsoft or whoever it was that tried to by them before their stock tanked.
    Reply
  • JMcEntegart
    homrqtI think this is probably a good thing on Yahoo's behalf. That woman is a PR menace.
    No! BAD reader, BAD. She's not a menace, she's news.
    Reply
  • bfstev
    Anything to keep yahoo in the news is good for the company. They really need her to do more of these speaches so their stock can go up a couple ticks.
    Reply
  • sailfish
    Maybe there was an issue with Yahoo and Microsoft both being on the same stage and Yahoo delivering the keynote?
    Reply
  • bmikulla
    I'm sure that her beginning to miss public appearances for health reasons is a strategy, a la Steve Jobs. Seems to have worked for Apple.
    Reply