Yahoo Board Probes CEO's Fake Résumé Debacle

Scott Thompson apologizes; director in charge of vetting to step down
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted May 8, 2012 7:39 AM CDT
Yahoo Board Probes CEO's Fake Résumé Debacle
In this Nov. 15, 2010 photo, then PayPal president Scott Thompson speaks at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Yahoo’s board is investigating the mess surrounding CEO Scott Thompson’s inflated résumé, and is hiring a law firm to oversee the matter, the Wall Street Journal reports. After shareholder Third Point LLC discovered Thompson has only an accounting degree, rather than a degree in computer science and accounting as his bio stated, the investor set yesterday as the deadline for Thompson’s ouster. When that deadline passed with Thompson's head still intact, Third Point demanded Yahoo allow it access to documents related to Thompson’s recruitment and vetting, the BBC reports.

The committee investigating the matter will attempt to determine whether anyone at Yahoo knew about the errors in Thompson’s bio. While the same incorrect information was also available on his PayPal bio, regulatory filings by eBay and other companies where Thompson sat on the board did not include the misinformation and referenced only his accounting degree. Third Point also alleges that director Patti Hart (who was instrumental in getting Thompson hired) misrepresented her degree, and it called for her to resign from the board. She said today that she wouldn't stand for re-election at Yahoo's next annual meeting, notes the AllThingsD blog. Thompson, meanwhile, apologized to employees in a memo yesterday, taking “full responsibility” but not revealing how the error occurred, Bloomberg reports. (More Scott Thompson stories.)

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