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That was fast. A little over a week after a controversy that an activist shareholder pushed forward gained traction, Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson, above, will step down over allegations that he lied on his resume, according to AllThingsD, though the company is likely to say that he’s stepping down for personal reasons. He’ll be replaced by Ross Levinsohn, who heads Yahoo’s global media empire. The change is a big victory for said activist trader, Daniel Loeb of Third Point, who will reportedly get three board seats out of a settlement over the issue. Thompson’s resume claimed he graduated with a computer science degree; in reality, he graduated with a degree in accounting. Thompson apologized for the oversight, but it appears too late for him. source
I want you to know how deeply I regret how this issue has affected the company and all of you. We have all been working very hard to move the company forward, and this has had the opposite effect. For that, I take full responsibility, and I want to apologize to you.Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson • Issuing a formal apology to the employees of Yahoo, amid a scandal over the possible falsification of his academic history, as we mentioned last week. Thompson claimed to hold a degree in computer science which he doesn’t — a fact that Yahoo initially called an “inadvertent error.” Today, however, they’ve announced the formation of a three-member panel to investigate Thompson’s record. source (via • follow)
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Today’s actions are an important next step toward a bold, new Yahoo! — smaller, nimbler, more profitable and better equipped to innovate as fast as our customers and our industry require. We are intensifying our efforts on our core businesses and redeploying resources to our most urgent priorities. Our goal is to get back to our core purpose – putting our users and advertisers first – and we are moving aggressively to achieve that goal. Unfortunately, reaching that goal requires the tough decision to eliminate positions. We deeply value our people and all they’ve contributed to Yahoo!.Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson • In a statement regarding the thousands of layoffs it plans to enact. The company’s press release says that it will “radically simplify” how it build products.
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