Sarin Expected to Refuse Yahoo! Role

Last week Yahoo! let go roughly 1,500 staff, and there are rumors going around that that won’t be the end of Yahoo! cutbacks. At the same time the search company was letting people go, talk turned to who the company would have take the helm once current CEO Jerry Yang jumps ship.

Alright, so he’s not jumping ship (he’ll remain at the company as Chief Yahoo and an active member of the board), but people are still scratching their heads about who will be stepping up to the plate for Yahoo!. Last week, word on the street was former Vodafone CEO was among those on the shortlist of people Yahoo! is considering for the position.

However, as is the way with rumors, there’s no use getting excited about anything until it’s confirmed. Or in this case, denied. According to the Financial Times, Arun Sarin is expected to tell Yahoo! he is not interesting in accepting the position. The Financial Times reports that people close to the ex-Vodafone boss have said he does not plan to take up the post of CEO at Yahoo! but is considering alternative roles at other U.S. public companies, plus at least one position at a private equity firm.

Sarin stepped down just before June of this year, following five years of service to the leading telecommunications company. He became Chief Executive of Vodafone in July 2003 during which his time with the company saw it expand into emerging markets such as Romania, Czech Republic and Turkey as well as acquire Hutchison Essar.

Yahoo! is keeping pretty quiet about who it wants to head the company for the coming years but we’ll keep you posted with any updates we have.