Is Jerry Yang Back at the Yahoo! Helm?

Out with the new, in with the old.

Earlier this month, now ex-Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz informed her staff that she had been removed from her position by the Yahoo! Board of directors. The board soon confirmed the news and revealed that the executive shuffle would see Carol replaced by CFO Timothy Morse. Yahoo! said Timothy would act as interim CEO (and still fulfill his duties as CFO) while the company conducted a search for a new chief executive officer. However, it would seem former-CEO Jerry Yang is back in the saddle.

According to a Business Insider source, Jerry Yang, who resigned from his position as CEO in 2008, has once again taken the reigns.

"Jerry who is essentially running the company again. He is in there running the company day to day," this source says. "It's f—-ing crazy! How that's even possible is bizarre after what he did to this company. How the board didn't show him out is shocking."

Yang founded Yahoo! with David Filo in 1995 and became CEO in 2007. While fulfilling the role of CEO, Yang found some of his leadership decisions called in question by investors. Chief among them was his refusal to sell the company to Microsoft for $33 share in May 2008. Just a few months later, Yahoo! shares had dropped to less half that, and in November of that same year, Yang stepped down from his role after just one year on the job.

A Yang return is not impossible. When he resigned in '08, he reverted to his previous role of 'Chief Yahoo!' and retained his seat on the Yahoo! board. He's still very much a part of the company, and as one of its founding fathers, it's only expected that he sit somewhere near the top of the food chain. But is he really back in charge? While one source says yes, another source that spoke to Business Insider doesn't seems so sure. This person is quoted as saying both Yang and co-founded David Filo are more visible, but perhaps not in an operational sense.

"I think Jerry and David are being more visible. I don't think operationally visible. I don't think they are making any decisions. I see them supporting people," this person said.

After Jerry's rather unsuccessful run as CEO, we doubt Yahoo! would bring him back in to replace Carol. However, he could very well be a part of the new 'Executive Leadership Council' that the company founded after it got rid of Carol. The Council was formed to help CFO and interim CEO Timothy Morse with the day-to-day operations and is said to include key senior Yahoo! executives.