Yahoo fires Chief Executive Officer Carol Bartz over the phone

Yahoo on Tuesday fired Chief Executive Officer Carol Bartz and replaced her temporarily with the company's chief financial officer.

"On behalf of the entire board, I want to thank Carol for her service to Yahoo during a critical time of transition in the company's history, and against a very challenging macro-economic backdrop," said Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock in a news release.

The Yahoo Board of Directors appointed CFO Timothy Morse as interim CEO who will manage the company's day-to-day operations until a permanent chief executive is chosen.

Before Yahoo's formal announcement, several news organizations and tech blogs posted an email reportedly from Bartz sent from her iPad to all employees of the company.

"To all, I am very sad to tell you that I've just been fired over the phone by Yahoo's Chairman of the Board. It has been my pleasure to work with all of you and I wish you only the best going forward."

Bartz, 63, took over the Yahoo CEO role from co-founder Jerry Young in January 2009, when the company was struggling to stay competitive and profitable in a market dominated by Google. However, Yahoo never reached the heights she had foreseen.

In the most recent quarterly earnings report in June, Yahoo reported net revenue of 1.1 billion U.S. dollars, down 5 percent from last year.

Morse, 42, was hired as executive vice president and CFO at Yahoo in July 2009. "It is an honor to be selected for this role," he said in a statement Tuesday.

Yahoo said it is starting a search for a new permanent CEO and plans to hire a "nationally recognized executive search firm" to assist in the effort.