Fortune Article

Tim Koogle

March 1995 to May 2001 Koogle was Yahoo's first CEO, shepherding the company from startup to web giant. He stepped down when web ad revenue started to dry up and the dotcom bubble burst.

Terry Semel

May 2001 to June 2007 The ex-Warner Bros. studio head made some good moves (new revenue sources, acquisitions), but he was criticized for lack of innovation and ceding market share to Google.

Jerry Yang

June 2007 to January 2009 Investors never forgave the Yahoo co-founder for spurning Microsoft's $44.6 billion buyout bid. (He thought it was too low.) He stayed on the board until January 2012.

Carol Bartz

January 2009 to September 2011 Bartz engineered Yahoo's search deal with Microsoft and brought down costs. But investors were impatient for a turnaround. The board famously fired her via a phone call.