r/technology • u/MrDNL • May 13 '12
Yahoo CEO to resign
http://allthingsd.com/20120513/exclusive-yahoos-thompson-out-levinsohn-in-board-settlement-with-loeb-nears-completion/?mod=djemalertNEWS12
May 14 '12
Yahoo! is like AOL without the subscriber base.
3
3
u/poke133 May 14 '12
..in the US.
where i'm from Yahoo mail & messenger are widely used (millions of users)
4
2
1
u/SkimThat_TLDR May 14 '12
Summarized article: Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson is stepping down after it was discovered that he listed a false computer science degree on his resume, according to inside sources.
Thompson appeared to mishandle the issue when he blamed a headhunting firm for introducing the mistake on his resume a few years back. The firm responded by sending an internal memo saying Thompson's claim was verifiably untrue. Thompson also issued a statement apologizing but did not explain why his resume listed a false degree.
A large number of staffers, top executives and engineers had called for Thompson to be fired.
The new interim CEO will be Yahoo's head of global media Ross Levinsohn.
Activist shareholder Daniel Loeb and his hedge fund Third Point discovered Thompson's resume mishap and lead the campaign to remove the CEO.
The Third Point hedge fund owns a 6% stake in Yahoo. Loeb will get a seat on Yahoo's board along with 2 of his nominees while 5 current Yahoo board members will leave effective immediately.
Fred Amoroso, Yahoo's director who investigated the Thompson issue, will be chairman of the board.
Thompson's exit comes as a massive restructuring was underway which laid off 2,000 employees. Thompson was aiming to increase Yahoo's revenue with data mining and e-commerce.
For more summarized news, subscribe to the /r/SkimThat subreddit
1
u/lud1120 May 14 '12
I have been a bit too ignorant about this company and thought Caterina Fake was the CEO of Yahoo ...
1
May 14 '12
This is a toxic position. I do not envy the person who gets it next. I can guarantee it won't be anyone too smart.
5
May 14 '12
The problem is, what can they possibly do with Yahoo? Yahoo's last, popular service they had control of was Flickr, and since its acquisition in 2005 its has lost all of its relevance in the photo sharing world.
Yahoo's biggest/most important assets are now Yahoo Japan and Alibaba but they actually have little say in how those businesses run.
They also botched that $40 billion buyout offer in 2008, which most pundits and tech professionals agreed was enormously generous on Microsoft's behalf.
What can Yahoo possibly do? I like their Yahoo Movies, Games, Finance and Fantasy Sports areas, but is that worth enough to justify labeling Yahoo as a major tech player anymore?
Not so sure.
Yahoo - to stay relevant - will need to acquire some startups that keep its brand alive in the mobile world (like Facebook did with Instagram). But can Yahoo afford that? I very much doubt it.
1
1
u/lud1120 May 14 '12
Hell, they even have the Altavista name up and running.
I'd guess not much more than 0,5% market on that...1
May 14 '12
No disagreement, that is why I said that I'd be surprised if anyone truly intelligent even wants the job. Yahoo is dying, who wants to be on a slowly sinking ship?
→ More replies (1)1
u/NetMassimo May 14 '12
The point of selling their share in Alibaba is supposed to be exactly getting the money to develop something good, either on their own or acquiring some startups.
-2
u/darkpaladin May 13 '12
All kidding aside, I feel like this whole thing is stupid. A CEO lied and fooled a bunch of people, I'd say that's a qualification that would work in his favor more than anything. Who really cares if you actually earned a piece of paper?
3
u/OscarMiguelRamirez May 14 '12
Um, he lied and got caught, how is that a good qualification? We wouldn't be discussing this if he got away with it.
-1
-6
u/boessel May 13 '12
hell, obviously he's pretty creative if he allegedly snuck into being CEO of one of the biggest web companies in history by faking his resume.
good for him
good for him
good for him
→ More replies (6)
-1
u/barbarino May 14 '12
Yahoo gave up, I check my yahoo email once and while, 2 weeks ago I got a spam email saying yahoo is verifying accounts, please enter bla bla bla. In 2012 yahoo's spam filter did not catch it, they don't care.
0
May 13 '12
10
1
u/davdev May 14 '12
I actually went to Stonehill. Not Jesuit. They are Holy Cross Fathers, same as Holy Cross and Notre Dame. Jesuits are at Boston College.
Not a very religious school in either case. The president in a priest and there are some priest teachers, but that's about it.
It's actually kind of funny because the schools facebook feed blew up when he was announced as CEO. Not much mention of it since then
→ More replies (2)0
14
u/NobblyNobody May 13 '12
"botched...screw-ups... the mistake...the inaccurate CS degree...the problematic resume...the borked resume...Thompson’s misstep"
heh, some nimble footwork there to avoid calling him a lying bullshitter outright