New Yahoo CEO Reportedly Stepping Down Amid Allegations of ‘Resume Padding’
- Posted on May 13, 2012 at 4:04pm by
Erica Ritz
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(Photo: AP)
(The Blaze/AP) — Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson will reportedly step down Sunday, amid controversy over mentions on his resume (and in regulatory filings) of a computer science degree he never actually received.
The Wall Street Journal’s technology blog AllThings D cited “multiple” unnamed sources close to the situation reporting that the Internet giant will say Thompson is stepping down for personal reasons. The report says Yahoo will appoint another executive as interim CEO.
(Related: Yahoo CEO Apologizes for Bogus College Degree)
The company’s board of directors also will appoint three new members and select a new chairman on Sunday, the Journal reported.
A Yahoo Inc. spokeswoman did not immediately return a call for comment.
At various times, published summaries of Thompson’s academic background have included a computer science degree from Stonehill College while, in reality, Thompson earned an accounting degree. Yahoo correctly lists that information in his biography.
(Photo: AP)
Yahoo hired Thompson, the former head of eBay’s PayPal, in January to help orchestrate a turnaround. Though, Yahoo is one of the Internet’s most-visited websites, the company has struggled to grow in face of competition from the likes of Google and Facebook. The company’s difficulties have irked investors. Thompson took the helm as Yahoo’s fourth chief executive in less than five years.
Carlos Kirjner, a senior analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, declined to comment on whether Yahoo’s board would be wise to oust Thompson. But he did suggest that Thompson’s previous job, as president of the fast-growing PayPal, hadn’t prepared him for Yahoo.
“It is very different to be CEO of a growth company, making choices between opportunities, and to be CEO of a company in turnaround mode, whose parts are declining or losing share,” Kirjner said.
The Associated Press previously reported that Thompson told his colleagues that he didn’t supply the incorrect information. The Journal said Sunday that the Chicago headhunting firm, Heidrick & Struggles, which Thompson blamed for the bogus information, has denied the claim in an internal memo. Officials from Heidrick & Struggles didn’t immediately return calls for comment.
The Journal said Yahoo‘s board will appoint the company’s global media head, Ross Levinsohn, as interim CEO.
The three incoming board members, reportedly to be selected Sunday, were nominated by Daniel Loeb, an activist shareholder and manager of the hedge fund Third Point.
Loeb, a vocal critic of Yahoo’s management, discovered Thompson’s resume discrepancy and has demanded that Thompson be fired.
(Photo: AP)
The flap over Thompson’s inaccurate bio earlier claimed its first casualty – Patti Hart, the Yahoo director who oversaw the search that culminated in his hiring. Hart is to step down at Yahoo’s still-unscheduled annual meeting later this year.
Thompson’s resume` discrepancy might have been more forgivable at a company that was making money for shareholders, said James Post, a management professor at Boston University.
“Yahoo has been embattled for such a long time that there are a lot of people prepared to believe the worst about that company,” said Post, who specializes in corporate governance and professional ethics. “When you’re angry at the management and the board, when nothing‘s going right and you’re losing money, it‘s understandable that shareholders would adopt an ’off with their head’ attitude.”
Update: Yahoo has named Fred Amoroso Chairman of the Board of Directors, and appointed Ross Levinsohn interim CEO.
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dontbotherme
Posted on May 14, 2012 at 2:14pmPer new news reports, Thomson is stepping down because he has thyroid cancer. This does not excuse him for “padding” his resume. I’ve never seen an honest resume. Always check facts when hiring people.
Report Post »rosegrower
Posted on May 14, 2012 at 1:15pm“Thompson’s resume` discrepancy might have been more forgivable at a company that was making money for shareholders, said James Post, a management professor at Boston University.” Interesting set of ethics this professor has – it‘s okay to lie as long as what you’re doing makes money for the company. This explains why no one wants to vet Obama’s academic credentials – he’s successfully destroying the country, so let him run amok and worry whether his GPA is better or worse than that of George Bush after the elections.
Report Post »sjohn70037
Posted on May 14, 2012 at 9:11amYou see, in the private sector if you lie you lose your job. Politicians just get re-elected.
Report Post »Obamujahadeen
Posted on May 14, 2012 at 12:03amToo bad he’s the wrong color, he could run for president and not have his entire BS Made for BET TV vetted for 5 minutes.
Report Post »HTuttle
Posted on May 14, 2012 at 12:01amResume padding? Like claiming you are Cherokee?
Report Post »Gold Nugget
Posted on May 13, 2012 at 11:58pmThe HR staff at yahoo should have done a google search on Scott before they hired him
Report Post »HTuttle
Posted on May 13, 2012 at 11:18pmFire everyone who has padded their resume and you end up rehiring all the last people you fired just so you can get the job done.
Report Post »Yeah, by that I mean you fired those few who DIDN’T pad their resumes because ….well, to your ignorant brains, you fired them not because they didn’t get the work done, but because their paper trail didn’t flip your ignorant HR protocol.
tomacz
Posted on May 13, 2012 at 11:14pmglen ,,,,makem an offer they can’t refuse
Report Post »turn it into a free press instead of a calliope for the democrats
Baja
Posted on May 13, 2012 at 7:20pmWhat difference does a resume make? Hell, look at Obama.
Report Post »COFemale
Posted on May 13, 2012 at 6:51pmHear a guy lies on his resume and gets a CEO job. I actually have a degree in Computer Science and I can’t find a job. What is wrong with this picture?
Report Post »COFemale
Posted on May 13, 2012 at 6:53pmOops you can tell it is Sunday – Here not Hear. Guess I shouldn’t watch TV and try to type. Maybe my state an pass a nanny law that prohitbits you from typing in a forum and watching TV at the same time.
Report Post »woodyb
Posted on May 13, 2012 at 7:13pmHe certainly knew that, sooner or later, he would be found out — only congresspersons, college professors and/or friends of Obama are ALLOWED to lie and get away with it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »RamonPreston
Posted on May 13, 2012 at 9:16pmExactly. I got a BS in CS in 1987 and never found a job other than a factory, etc. I’m 65 and retired. What a waste of time and money.
BTW: That’s called “creative writing” in school.
Report Post »MAMMY_NUNN
Posted on May 13, 2012 at 6:17pmWell thats how companies fail lacking in all departments. How many of those with Yahoo accounts have been hacked ? Myself and everyone I know who had a account have been hacked so needless to say Bye Bye YAHOO.
Report Post »MBA
Posted on May 13, 2012 at 5:47pmwhy bother to ask for a resume if HR isn’t going to verify? must be more liberals, wasn’t it Regan who said trust but verify? That worked out rather well for Regan–trust and give them a billion dollars because you‘re a freakin’ liberal isn‘t workin’ out so well for the rest of ‘em.
Report Post »RamonPreston
Posted on May 13, 2012 at 9:20pmNinety per cent of an interview is your appearance (does your clothes meet the company image) the the rest is how you dazzle the interviewer with your fancy foot work. Has nothing to do with qualifications.
They have already looked at your resume before you got the interview.
Report Post »HTuttle
Posted on May 13, 2012 at 11:20pmHR is to hiring as Wellness is to Health.
Report Post »groundzero
Posted on May 13, 2012 at 5:45pmThis Daniel Loeb is a manager of Hedge Fund and came from California. I smell a RAT, to take over Yahoo as they have Google. They being “George Soros Democratics”.
Report Post »teebubba
Posted on May 13, 2012 at 5:28pmHere’s the deal numbnuts(Thompson): Even if you never wrote that stuff on your resume to Yahoo or your previous employer you had a responsibility to correct it when it was published on your bio at these places. You can’t say “Oh they got it wrong” after the fact.
Report Post »Constructionist
Posted on May 13, 2012 at 4:59pmPadding a resume is slightly embellishing one’s accomplishments and achievements to make oneself appear more capable or experienced than reality might otherwise suggest. Claiming to have a degree that one does not have is simply a lie, a falsehood, a fraudulent claim. The article insults the reader‘s intelligence by repeatedly referring to it as a ’discrepancy’.
Report Post »65Mustang
Posted on May 13, 2012 at 6:28pmHasn’t Obama padded his resume?
Report Post »TRONINTHEMORNING
Posted on May 13, 2012 at 4:24pmYou’d think YAHOO would have a better staff to actually confirm claims on a resume by a prospective employee. What a bunch of yahoos. I couldn’t help it, so I wrote it. {:
Report Post »Shasta
Posted on May 13, 2012 at 4:30pmYou would think the media would have better staff to vet Obama and expose his lies rather then rolling over and hope they get their belly scratched. Eew!
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on May 13, 2012 at 4:51pmYahoo… for Liberal Hunters… hoo take down Obama Supporters!
Report Post »Ella
Posted on May 13, 2012 at 4:14pmHe’s in good company. The president of the US doesn’t have any proof that he can show “we the people” that his resume is true. He certainly has no experience one can relate to the huge job he has.
Report Post »What right does he or anyone else in an important job have to seal their records. Why hasn’t congress or the supreme court demanded to share with “we the people” Obamas grades, proof he graduated Harvard, what he wrote for the law review and so on?
CatB
Posted on May 13, 2012 at 4:28pmI agree .. my first thought .. if anyone has “padded” a resume how about the man who refuses to provide his EMPLOYERS with proof of anything he says!
Report Post »