Yahoo CEO Bartz speaks at a conference in San Francisco
Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz speaks at the American Association of Advertising Agencies annual Media and Leadership Conference in San Francisco, California March 1, 2010. Reuters

Carol Bartz, who was fired as Yahoo! Inc.’s chief executive officer Tuesday, is rumored to be getting a payout in the range of $10 million after less than three years on the job.

Bartz reportedly is still eligible for vesting stock options based on the shares reaching certain milestones in the future.

Yahoo fired Bartz, who took the helm in January 2009, after the company posted disappointing sales and struggled to compete with rivals Facebook and Google Inc.

Bartz is eligible for about $3 million based on her salary and bonus last year, according to the April 29 regulatory filing. Also, it is expected that the company would award a pro-rated bonus based on her months on the job this year.

On Wednesday, Yahoo's shares rose 5.4 percent, or 70 cents, to $13.61 at the 4 p.m. market close as investors digested the news of Bartz's exit. The company has a market value about $17 billion.

For Bartz, 63, the pressure had been building for some time. When she arrived at Yahoo, Bartz, a former CEO of Autodesk Inc., slashed costs and overhauled the Internet search-and-advertising company's convoluted management structure.

In 2009, as a growth-boosting measure, Bartz decided that Yahoo would no longer invest in search-engine technology and compete against Google. Instead, she signed a 10-year deal with Microsoft Corp., letting Microsoft's Bing search engine power the search feature on Yahoo sites in exchange for ad revenue.

That decision hasn't yet paid off. Bartz and fellow Yahoo directors recently discussed whether she was unrealistic about the deal, people familiar with the matter said. In the 12 months that ended in June, Yahoo generated $1.54 billion in net revenue from search ads, down from $1.8 billion in the previous 12-month period.

Pressure mounted in 2010 amid flat revenue, high-level executive departures and media speculation that other firms were plotting takeover bids.

People continue to spend less time and advertisers spend less money on Yahoo as its portal's popularity fades.

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