John Chapple

Could a Seattle area technology executive be on the verge of taking the top job at Yahoo?

That's some of the speculation from Kara Swisher of All Things D, who writes today that former Nextel Partners CEO and current Yahoo board member John Chapple is a strong possibility given that investor Carl Icahn has quietly increased his position in the troubled Internet company. Chapple -- who runs Kirkland private investment firm Hawkeye Investments -- is an Icahn ally who was placed on the board in August as part of a compromise between Yahoo and the billionaire investor.

Swisher has floated Chapple's name before, along with a number of others such as H-P's Todd Bradley and Google exec Tim Armstrong. But now, the well-connected reporter says that Icahn's purchase of $1 billion worth of Yahoo stock indicates that a decision could come soon and be more "Icahn-friendly." Writes Swisher:

"But many point to a current Yahoo board member as a quick choice, in order to get some key initiatives moving, such as a Microsoft deal or a merger with Time Warner (TWX) online unit, AOL. That points to someone like Chapple ... who has been querying a range of mid-level Yahoo execs of late, presumably to get a lay of the land at the company for the board."

There are some reasons why Chapple doesn't make sense. The longtime telecom executive is not rooted in the Internet business like some of the others that have been mentioned. He spent eight years at the helm of wireless carrier Nextel Partners, running Orca Bay Sports (The McCaw family's ownership of the Vancouver NBA and NHL teams) before that. From 1998 to 1995, Chapple worked as an executive vice president for McCaw Cellular and AT&T Wireless.

Most of his board seats --other than Yahoo -- are in the telecommunications/wireless arena. But Chapple's ties to Icahn and for that matter, billionaire Craig McCaw, do make him an interesting candidate.

And, since we are speculating here, maybe something can be made of Chapple's auto-generated e-mail response this week. It says:

"I am traveling for the remainder of this week on business and for the holiday and will be checking emails as time permits."

That could mean Chapple is working out the particulars on a transition plan to take over from Jerry Yang. Or, it might just mean, he's enjoying some leftovers from Thanksgiving.

Stay tuned.