My favorite CEO to hate was the ex-CEO of Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO), Jerry Yang.

Yahoo Inc (YHOO) named Carol Bartz, 60, chairwoman of Autodesk Inc. (ADSK), its new chief executive following the departure of former company chief and co-founder Jerry Yang, who announced in November he would step down.

Jerry Yang, Yahoo Inc.’s (YHOO) co-founder and chief executive officer, today (Tuesday) stepped down from his post under heavy shareholder pressure. Yang will return to his former role as board member and “Chief Yahoo!” – a non-so-flattering, if not ironic, title considering the heavy criticism he took in the past year – upon the appointment of his replacement.

It’s got to be frustrating for Jerry Yang. The 40-year-old co-founder and CEO of Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) is sitting on top of the world’s most popular web site, yet he can’t compete with Google Inc.’s (GOOG) more effective search-engine advertising machine.

Jerry Yang, Yahoo Inc.’s (YHOO) chief executive officer, finally got his wish last Thursday when his company partnered with rival Google Inc. (GOOG) to enhance its online advertisement business.

Carl Icahn is adding to his reputation as a boardroom bully. In a letter to Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) Chairman Roy Bostock, the billionaire investor threatened to seek control of the board and resuscitate takeover talks with Microsoft Corp. (MSFT).

“So! Microsoft’s Yahoo bid fell through. What are your thoughts?” This was how I greeted our research director Theo when I let him into the office this morning he’d forgotten the door code again.

Shares of Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) tumbled 15% yesterday (Monday) to close at $24.37 a share as investors responded to Saturday’s news that Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) would drop its $47.5 billion dollar bid for the beleaguered search engine firm.

But the tough times are just beginning for Yahoo, which must now prove why it is worth more than the lofty price Microsoft was offering.

Jerry Yang, CEO of the world’s number two internet search engine company Yahoo! Inc., is doing his best to put a positive spin on Microsoft’s withdrawal of its bid for Yahoo!

But with Yahoo! stock tanking and rival search engine company Google continuing to out pace Yahoo! the question is whether Yang’s “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” is enough to revive the flagging internet giant.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) last Saturday yanked its $44.6 billion bid for struggling Internet-search pioneer Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) after the two companies were unable to come to terms over the buyout price.