Yahoo's Anti-Yang?

Sam Gustin writes: Former Vodafone head Arun Sarin may or may not become Yahoo's next chief executive, as the Wall Street Journal is reporting today, but one thing is for sure: he's no Jerry Yang. In fact, he may be the Anti-Yang.

Sarin's reputation as a tough, military-trained former boxer stands in stark contrast with Yang's image as a cerebral, mild-mannered software engineer. The 54-year-old Sarin was recently praised by India's Economic Times for his "near-legendary pugnacious ability to stand up to sustained battering," a quality that could very well be required of Yahoo's next chief executive.

In order to lead Yahoo out of its current morass, the beleaguered Web company may well need an experienced brawler -- something Jerry Yang will never be accused of.

Sarin, the well-regarded former chief executive of mobile giant Vodafone, is on the short list of candidates being examined by a working group of Yahoo board members, reports the Wall Street Journal. Yahoo's board is vetting candidates to succeed Yang, Yahoo's co-founder, who announced his intention to step down after a turbulent 17-month run during which the company's stock price tanked and he failed to achieve major deals with Microsoft and Google.

Sarin is attractive for several reasons, not least of all his experience leading Vodafone, one of the world's largest wireless carriers. Many analysts believe the mobile space will be the next great battleground for tech supremacy. Apple has already made an aggressive move with the iPhone, and Yahoo's rival Google is forging ahead with its Android mobile operating system. (Vodafone owns a 45 percent stake of U.S. wireless giant Verizon Wireless; Verizon owns the remaining 55 percent.)

Four months ago, Sarin retired from Vodafone after a successful tenure during which he boosted earnings by cutting costs and increasing the company's focus on developing nations. Vodafone's 2007 blockbuster $11 billion takeover of Hutchinson Essar, one of India's biggest mobile phone carriers, is considered his top achievement.

When he assumed control of Vodafone, a U.K.-based company, in 2003, London's financial community had low expectations for Sarin, according to a recent profile by Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times. By the time he stepped down from Vodafone in July 2008, Sarin had proved his critics wrong and emerged a "bloodied victor," Barber wrote, calling Sarin's time at Vodafone a "case study in dealing with a dysfunctional board and a shareholder rebellion."

As if that wouldn't be enough to qualify Sarin for the Yahoo job, in the same interview Sarin was quoted praising Carl Icahn, the corporate raider turned "shareholder activist" who forced his way onto Yahoo's board after the failed negotiations with Microsoft.

Sarin faces tough competition to replace Yang from former AOL chief Jon Miller, former Yahoo C.O.O. Dan Rosensweig and others. (News Corp. exec Peter Chernin has reportedly taken himself out of the running.)

Sarin is less well-known than his rivals, but it's not hard to see why he'd be an appealing candidate to lead Yahoo into the post-Jerry Yang era. Yang, while widely respected as an internet pioneer, has never been known as a tough guy. With Yahoo facing the fight of its life, Sarin may be just what the company needs.