Yahoo forms committee to investigate CEO hiring process

08.05.2012
Yahoo has appointed three board members to a special committee that will investigate the hiring of CEO Scott Thompson in the wake of revelations that his resume's listing of computer science as a second undergraduate major was false, Yahoo said on Tuesday.

The panel, chaired by Alfred Amoroso, an independent director who joined the Yahoo board in February, will review Thompson's academic credentials and the circumstances around how they were disclosed and reviewed when he was hired as CEO, Yahoo said in a statement.

Later on Tuesday, Yahoo said Patti Hart, the board member who spearheaded the CEO hiring process, would not seek re-election to the board when her term expires at the company's annual shareholders meeting this summer.

Thompson's biography on the Yahoo website and in papers filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, said that he had majored in accounting and computer science at Stonehill College. Thompson majored only in accounting, Yahoo has acknowledged.

Activist shareholder Daniel Loeb, who leads the Third Point investment fund, disclosed the discrepancy in a public letter on May 3. The company the mistake but expressed support for Thompson's leadership. Later that day, it released a second statement, the board would look into the matter.