In a case of, "Better late than never," Yahoo has announced it will now form a special committee that will look more closely into the academic credentials of its current CEO Scott Thompson. This news follows the reveal last week that Thompson did not obtain a computer science degree from Stonehill College, as his Yahoo bio previously stated.
In a statement, Yahoo said:
The special committee and the entire Board appreciate the urgency of the situation and the special committee will therefore conduct the review in an independent, thorough and expeditious manner. The Board intends to make the appropriate disclosures to shareholders promptly upon completion of the review.
The damage to both Yahoo and Thompson"s reputation seem to be growing. Earlier this week, Thompson sent out a memo to Yahoo"s employees. AllThingsD.com posted up the memo, where Thompson apologizes to Yahoo"s team members for "how this issue has affected the company and all of you." However, that belated apology has done little to stem the tide of mistrust in terms of Yahoo"s board and its decision making process.
The revelation of Thompson"s true academic record was first announced by Dan Loeb of Third Point, Yahoo’s largest outside stock holder. He wants Yahoo"s board to fire Thompson and also demanded the company release the records of how Thompson was vetted for the CEO job. Thompson was hired as CEO in January after previously holding the gig of President of PayPal, who also listed his incorrect computer science degree.
It"s a good thing Yahoo! is finally taking a deep look at his resume, he is only running the company after-all.