The negotiating breakdown infuriated shareholders and their fury intensified as Yahoo's stock plunged to its lowest levels since early 2003.

Yang, Yahoo's co-founder, clung to the hope that he could still engineer a comeback, but his plans went awry yet again this month when Google backed out of a proposed ad partnership to avoid an antitrust battle with the federal government.

The loss of Google's help, which was supposed to boost Yahoo's sagging profits, evidently prompted Yang and Yahoo's board to conclude they needed to announce a change in command even before a successor had been found. Yang, 40, will remain CEO until his replacement is hired and then revert to his former advisory role of "Chief Yahoo."

Yahoo so far has given few clues on the leadership skills it's seeking, saying only that it wants a CEO "who can take the company to the next level." The company has hired Heidrick & Struggles, an headhunting firm, to recruit its next CEO.

Although Yahoo's profits and stock price have been crumbling for nearly three years, analysts say the company's huge audience of about 500 million Internet users and leadership positions in e-mail and news could still attract a big-name executive. "Yahoo can still be salvaged," said Forrester Research analyst David Card.

The names of possible successors include obvious ones like Yahoo's current president and Yang confidant, Susan Decker, as well as its former chief operating officer, Dan Rosensweig, who left last year after a management shake-up diminished his authority.

Other candidates offer more intrigue, like former eBay Inc. CEO Meg Whitman or media mogul Rupert Murdoch's top lieutenant at News Corp., Peter Chernin, who just so happens to be getting ready to negotiate another contract.

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