Arun Sarin declines Yahoo CEO job

Former Vodafone Group Plc Chief Executive Arun Sarin has decided not to pursue the CEO job at Yahoo Inc, the Financial Times reported, citing people close to him.

Yahoo had been interested in having Sarin succeed Jerry Yang, according to those people, the Financial Times wrote on Monday, but Sarin is expected to say he does not want the job.

Sarin is looking at alternative roles at other US public companies as well as at a private equity firm, the Financial Times wrote, citing those people as saying. Yang said in November that he would step down as chief executive as soon as Yahoo's board finds a replacement.

Sarin, 54, retired from Vodafone Group in May, after serving approximately five years as CEO of the European telecommunications giant. While at Vodafone, Sarin was credited with realigning the company's focus on emerging markets, such as India.

Sarin apparently has a number of the qualities that Yahoo is seeking in a CEO. Back in mid-November, one source familiar with Yahoo's thinking noted the company sought:

Someone with prior CEO experience who's got both operational and strategic skills, someone experienced in technology, and somebody energetic and young--which apparently means in his or her 40s or 50s.

Yahoo expects to come up with a pool of about a dozen candidates and settle on one within six months, though there's no hard deadline.