Yahoo CEO Out Following Resume Flap

It was a difficult week for embattled Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson as he made it official on Sunday that he was leaving the Internet giant.

Thompson offered up his official resignation on Sunday as the company cited “personal reasons” for the departure. He faced massive criticism earlier this month after it was found that his biography in a Yahoo regulatory filing and on other websites listed a bachelor’s degree in accounting and computer science, which he never earned.

The Wall Street Journal also cites unnamed sources in reporting that over the weekend, Thompson told the company’s board of directors and colleagues that he has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

In a statement, Yahoo said that Fred Amoroso will serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Ross Levinsohn as interim Chief Executive Officer.

The company also reached an agreement with Third Point LLC to settle its proxy contest related to the 2012 annual meeting of shareholders. Three Third Point nominees – Daniel Loeb, Harry Wilson and Michael Wolf – will be joining the Yahoo board.

Loeb and Third Point have been waging the proxy battle for months to win seats on the board. The hedge fund had spotted Thompson’s misstated degree in a regulatory filing in late April and disclosed its finding earlier this month.

Overall, it has been a difficult year for Yahoo as the company also laid off some 2,000 employees in early April.

Photo Credit: gaku, via Wikimedia Commons

It's simple. Keith Mizuguchi loves to write and write and write some more. After taking a hiatus from the journalism business, he has rekindled his passion for writing over the last two years, holding a job as both a web and on-air writer for San Francisco news radio station KCBS. While he enjoys the news business, his true passions are twofold: sports and food. Bay Area born and raised, he lives in San Jose, commutes to SF and loves every minute of it. You can follow his food adventures on Twitter @foodie_keith.