Yahoo’s leadership dramas refuse to die down after revelations that recently appointed CEO Scott Thompson may have embellished his resume by claiming to hold a degree in accounting and computer science, when the degree was actually just for accounting.
The issue was raised by shareholder activist, Dan Loeb, who wrote to the firm’s board bringing the discrepancy to attention, claiming Thompson had “embellished his academic credentials” in order to land the role.
“A rudimentary Google search reveals a Stonehill College alumni announcement stating that Thompson’s degree is in accounting only. That announcement is consistent with other documents (including filings with the SEC) that reflect Thompson received a degree in accounting, but not computer science,” Loeb wrote in the letter to the board.
“If Thompson embellished his academic credentials we think that it 1) undermines his credibility as a technology expert and 2) reflects poorly on the character of the [chief executive] who has been tasked with leading Yahoo at this critical juncture.”
Yahoo has dismissed Loeb’s concerns and call for Thompson to be fired by Monday. A company spokesperson claiming the issue was merely down to human error and backed the credentials of Thompson to lead the company.
“Scott Thompson’s degree at Stonehill College was in bachelor science in accounting. There was an inadvertent error that stated Thompson also holds a degree in computer science,” the spokesperson said. “This, in no way, alters that fact that Thompson is a highly qualified executive with a successful track record leading large consumer technology companies.”
Since taking over at Yahoo, Thompson has cut jobs and reorganized the company. Yahoo’s search advertising revenues increased in Q1.
Yahoo is also involved in a patent dispute with Facebook, the threat of which forced Facebook to buy $550 million in patents from Microsoft.
This article was originally published on V3.
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