Carol Bartz expected to be named CEO of Yahoo! (YHOO)

Yahoo! They found someone for the gig. Former Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK) CEO Carol Bartz has reportedly accepted the top job at Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), according to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required.)

Industry watchers have considered Bartz a leading contender for the CEO spot left vacated by co-founder Jerry Yang for a while now. But filling the job proved contentious... and difficult. Seems nobody wanted the task of trying to turn around the troubled company's fortunes. While it enjoys rich content and traffic, this early internet player has also been beset by internal and external troubles for years. Much of its executive and technical talent has left for greener pastures.

Bartz, 60, is a well-regarded tech executive. She presided over Autodesk from 1992 through 2006, during which the company saw robust growth. She served as Chairman, president and CEO of the company, and remains on as its executive chairman.

Bartz has had stints at many tech firms over the course of her career. She was an executive at Sun Microsystems Inc., (NASDAQ: JAVA), Digital Equipment Corp., and 3M (NYSE: MMM). She also sits on a number of boards, including the board of Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), with predecessor Jerry Yang.