The chief executive of
computer firm Yahoo has stepped down, amid accusations that a fake computer science degree was included
on his CV. The California-based company confirmed media reports that Scott Thompson had quit his
post.
acknowledged Scott Thompson does not have a computer science degree
He has been replaced by Yahoo’s global media head Ross Levinsohn.
The
firm is also reportedly close to agreeing a truce with activist shareholder Daniel Loeb, who discovered
Mr Thompson’s mistake.
Mr Loeb, a hedge fund manager who lobbied for Mr Thompson’s dismissal,
is set to be appointed a company director.
Other new directors will also be appointed and Yahoo
has named Fred Amoroso as the new chairman of its board.
Cost cutting
Yahoo has already
acknowledged that Mr Thompson, who took up his post in January, does not have a computer science
degree.
Just last month, the company, which is based in Sunnyvale, announced plans to make 2,000
employees redundant.
Mr Thompson had previously been the president of online payments firm
Paypal since 2008.
He took over as chief executive from Tim Morse, who had held the role on an
interim basis since Carol Bartz was sacked in September 2011 after two-and-a-half years in the
post.
Since Mr Thompson joined Yahoo, he had been attempting to cut the firm’s costs and
improve its fortunes.
Part of this involved cutting 2,000 jobs, or 14% of the company’s
workforce, in a bid to save $375m (£233m) a year.
Besides its search engine, Yahoo’s key
products include the photo sharing site Flickr and its webmail platform.