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Tag: Scott Thompson

  • Scott Thompson Follows Short Yahoo Career With CEO Gig At ShopRunner

    Scott Thompson, who served as the last official Yahoo CEO before Marissa Mayer (not including interim CEO Ross Levinsohn) has now taken the job of CEO at retailer network ShopRunner. He already has experience on the company’s board, and will be reunited with old colleagues.

    Meanwhile, ShopRunner’s current CEO, Mike Golden, will continue as President of the company.

    Golden said, “Scott and Michael Rubin had worked together for a number of years, and Michael and I took him through the idea of ShopRunner early on. He had an immediate understanding of the potential impact of ShopRunner for consumers and retailers. During his tenure as PayPal’s President, Scott joined the ShopRunner board of directors and we got to see firsthand how much value Scott could add to our business. Michael and I both felt he would be the perfect long-term CEO. We are thrilled that Scott has taken us up on our offer to lead ShopRunner’s continued growth.”

    “Joining ShopRunner is a tremendous opportunity to build on the strong foundation that the company has already established,” said Thompson. “While PayPal and ShopRunner are fundamentally different businesses, there are similarities in each of their success. Both companies are focused on building the broadest network of satisfied merchants by providing the value that creates a large and loyal customer community, creating a virtuous circle.”

    “Mike Golden has built a great foundation with ShopRunner and we both agreed that it is the perfect time to bring in Scott, who we have gotten to know extremely well over the past few years,” said Rubin, who currently serves as CEO of Kynetic, a majority shareholder of ShopRunner. “Scott’s deep understanding of online businesses combined with his team building, operational capabilities, and focus on product will allow ShopRunner to realize its ultimate potential.”

    The ShopRunner gig may not be quite as high profile as Thompson’s short gig at Yahoo, but it may prove less of a challenge. Longtime Googler Marissa Mayer now has the pleasure of taking on the challenge that has cost numerous CEOs their jobs over the past decade.

    Thompson had developed Thyroid cancer, which became public knowledge once the Wall Street Journal reported on it in May, but Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports that Thompson is now “cancer free”.

  • Yahoo’s Reconditioned Board will Reconvene Next Week

    Yahoo and their board of directors have been through a lot lately. Most recently they have lost their CEO, Scott Thompson after a brutal proxy battle with activist shareholder Dan Loeb.

    They have also lost Pati Hart, co-founder Jerry Yang, and longtime chairman, Roy Bostock.

    Next week, the Yahoo board of director will reconvene, but with a fresh configuration and several new faces. Fred Amoroso is now chairman of the board. Shareholder Dan Loeb also has a seat, as does Michael Wolf of MTV fame, and Harry Wilson, well known turnaround specialist.

    You might also recall, Ross Levinsohn has been acting as interim CEO. And while Levinsohn has been actively pursuing strategies and solutions to steady Yahoo and drag it back from the brink of extinction, one of the central themes of next week’s board meeting will be to decide what to do with him. Should Yahoo cement Levinsohn in his current position as CEO, or pursue new leadership?

    Aside from the decision they must make about a CEO, they must also decide what to do with Facebook and their patent dispute. Despite the resignation of Thompson, apparently negotiations are ongoing.

    Also of interest, the board will be discussing what to do with assets from the selloff of its stake in Alibaba. Certainly Loeb, whose main goal is to unlock the shareholder value in Yahoo, will want a piece of that action.

    And finally, the board must decide if they intend to sell their ad tech business to Google. Months ago, Google made their first offer to buy the properties, but talks are still inconclusive.

    So, next week’s meeting should be interesting for the newly configured board, and a good indicator of how things are going to function over at Yahoo from now on. We’ll keep you up to date on Yahoo’s plans going forward.

  • Yahoo Ready to Find Replacement CEO

    Yahoo is ready to start searching for a new CEO. As you may recall, Scott Thompson resigned after a rather lengthy proxy battle with activist investor Dan Loeb a his investment firm, Third Point.

    The surprising climax of that battle was the unearthing of a critical oversight on then current CEO, Scott Thompson’s credentials, claiming he held a computer science degree when he indeed, did not.

    Thompson chose to resign rather than continue on with a tarnished record. Executive Vice President, Ross Levinsohn then stepped in as acting interim CEO. While Levinsohn may be the frontrunner for the job, Yahoo is none the less starting their search for Thompson’s permanent replacement.

    In fact, Levinsohn isn’t wasting any time, and has already moved forward with plans to get the company back on track. His first priority is to divest several assets to build up some cash cash flow.

    Next, he needs to go into damage control from the Thompson scandal, and tie up the loose ends from the current Facebook lawsuit over patent infringement. Finally, he needs to win back his former media buyers and focus on making advertising and brands a key financial component of the Yahoo business model.

    My guess would be, if Levinsohn can accomplish any of this in the short term, he will be the permanent CEO at Yahoo. Can he actually get it done? Nobody knows. Yahoo isn’t in a real great position right now, so any headway would be an improvement. We’ll keep you updated.

  • Scott Thompson Steps Down From F5 and Splunk Inc.

    Scott Thompson’s not so subtle departure from Yahoo left some wondering if he in fact, does have health problems or just fabricated a clever excuse to sidestep allegations that he intentionally perpetuated the myth that he held a bachelors degree in computer science. In any event, he stepped down as CEO of Yahoo and now we find he has also resigned several other boards where he held positions of influence.

    As of Friday, Thompson resigned his position on the board of directors at F5, a technology company focused on the organization of internet traffic. No specific details were given about the departure, but we can assume it is related to him recently being diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

    Today, we hear that he is resigning from his board of directors position at Splunk as well. After joining the software company in October last year, his resignation was made official on Friday. Splunk Chairman and CEO Godfrey Sullivan comments on Thompson’s departure, “On behalf of the company’s management and board of directors, we thank Mr. Thompson for his contributions to the company. In regard to recent health issues, we wish Scott all the best for a fast and full recovery”.

    As you might recall, Thompson officially resigned from Yahoo, but it is widely believed he was forced out after the scandal over his credentials. Yahoo claimed there was due “cause” for him leaving and was justified in not paying him severance, but he was allowed to keep his make-whole stock options which yielded him millions off his work at Yahoo.

    No real evidence has been offered verifying the 54-year-old’s cancer diagnosis, but he has explained that he wishes to keep the details of his personal health private. We will keep you updated on Thomson’s health and the dealings over at Yahoo as 2012 continues to bring change.

  • Thompson Leaves Yahoo with No Severance but Makes Millions

    As you may recall, Yahoo and CEO Scott Thompson have agreed to part ways as of yesterday. Thompson, who found himself locked in a battle with activist Yahoo investor Dan Loeb and his venture capital firm Third Point, was accused of providing false credentials in his company biography and other official documents. Doing his best to sidestep the issue, Thompson urged the Yahoo staff to get on with business as usual, but a formal investigation was already underway.

    With pressure for Yahoo to react, and pressure on Thompson to respond to the allegations, the CEO announced his formal plans to resign late on Sunday. According to Thompson, he was recently diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and is leaving in order to focus on getting treatment, but doesn’t wish to disclose any further details about his personal health issues. His resignation represents a win for Third Point in the proxy battle against the Yahoo board.

    With Thompson leaving for medical issues we were left wondering if Yahoo would pay him his severance from his employment offer in light of the recent false credentials scandal, but today we have a definitive answer. Yahoo is claiming they have a “cause” for his departure, which frees them from their obligation under the employment offer Thompson originally signed. Essentially, the false credentials debacle cost Thomson his severance.

    Before you go feeling too bad for Thompson listen to what he does get to keep. Yahoo has agreed to award him his “Make-Whole” cash bonus and his restricted stock options, both of which sum to about $7 million. In return, he has signed an agreement to not disparage Yahoo or Yahoo disparage him in any future claims. Basically, they agree the separation is mutually beneficial.

    Here’s a segment from the agreement between Thompson and Yahoo:

    ” The parties reiterated their obligations with regard to disparagement under Mr. Thompson’s offer letter, providing that Mr. Thompson not knowingly disparage Yahoo! or its officers, directors, employees or agents in any manner likely to be harmful to their respective business, business reputation or personal reputation, and that Yahoo! instruct its Chairman, certain employees and executive officers not to knowingly disparage Mr. Thompson in any manner likely to be harmful to his business, business reputation or personal reputation other than in the good-faith performance of their duties to Yahoo! or in connection with their fiduciary duties to Yahoo! and applicable law.”

    Ross Levinsohn will stand as the interim CEO and Fred Amoroso will hold the position of Chairman on the Yahoo Board of Directors. Daniel S. Loeb, Harry J. Wilson, and Michael J. Wolf of Third Point have also been added to the board. This marks the beginning of a new era for Yahoo and hopefully a more stable year. So far for 2012 we have seen thousands of lay offs, a loss of a CEO, and multiple resignations on the board of directors. It has to get better than this.

  • Scott Thompson Leaves Yahoo After Cancer Diagnosis

    Some of us may have had our doubts about Scott Thompson’s claim that he had nothing to do with the perpetuated myth about him having a computer science degree, but regardless he has agreed to step down from his position as CEO at Yahoo. As we reported earlier he will be replaced by Ross Levinsohn who was previously heading up Yahoo’s global media division.

    Thompson’s resignation along with some new appointments to the Yahoo board marks a victory for activist investor Dan Loeb and his investment firm Third Point, but as the Wall Street Journal reports, it may be the beginning of a new battle for ex-CEO Thompson.

    According to the 54-year-old Thompson, he has very recently been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and has already begun the treatment process to help fight the disease. Over the weekend he shared brief details with members of the Yahoo board and cited them as the primary cause for giving his resignation. He also said there would be no public announcement since he wanted to keep the details of his disease private.

    If you remember back to early last week, Yahoo announced a formal investigation into Thompson’s false credentials. Recently Third Point put huge stress on the Yahoo’s board to take action against Thompson and other Yahoos who allegedly provided false credentials and seemingly deceived their way into positions at the firm.

    Thompson’s resignation is the second we’ve seen over the controversial false credentials and heated proxy battle with Third Point. Patti Hart, who played an instrumental role in Scott Thompson being hire at the firm, resigned last week. As of this mourning, several of Yahoo’s board have also agreed to step down in order to make room for Third Point’s main man Dan Loeb, leader of the proxy battle, and his colleagues.

    According to inside sources at Yahoo, Thompson is leaving with a sizable severance package, and presumably, his reputation still intact. No word on if the investigation of his credentials is still going forward with the private law firm Yahoo hired, but it looks like the proxy battle with Third Point has finally come to a head and Third Point is the big winner.

  • Best Buy Founder Resigns

    It was just reported that former Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson resigned after being called out by Dan Loeb and Third Point for padding his resume. Thompson, who had been peddling a fake computer science degree for some time, made national news in a society that is very fascinated with the misgivings of 1%-ers, and then claimed to all the sudden be suffering from a serious illness before stepping down. And, Thompson was also able to bypass forced crying on television or the entering some sort of rehab center to bolster PR. Surely he’d arranged his contract in a way that will afford him millions of dollars for fraudulently taking the reigns at the embattled company for roughly four months, so, case closed.

    In another instance of a top executive behaving badly, Best Buy’s founder and chairman Richard Schulze has stepped down, after a probe revealed that he was aware of ex-CEO Brian Dunn’s inappropriate relationship with a female employee. Dunn resigned in April, and there were no disagreements between he and the board on anything relating to operations, financial controls, policies, or procedures. Best Buy had hired an outside legal firm to take a look at Dunn’s dealings, and revealed that no misuse of company resources or aircraft occurred during the ongoing tryst, but indicated that Schulze “acted inappropriately” when he found out about the relationship.

    Best Buy has been having some big problems as of late, and was forced to close several of its stores and lay off hundreds of employees. Leadership had already been on thin ice, and Schulze, who founded the company since 1966, made a misstep in possibly protecting Dunn’s misconduct. As Schulze resigns, he will be replaced by Hatim Tyabji, chairman of its audit committee. Schulze will be fine – In 2011 he was ranked 157th richest person in America, according to Forbes, with an estimated worth of $2.5 billion.

  • Yahoo Elects New Leadership as Thompson Steps Down

    As I reported earlier today, Scott Thompson has decided to step down at Yahoo as CEO citing recently discovered health problems as the main reason. Some may say it comes at very convenient time as he was actively trying to sidestep accusations that he purposefully provided false academic credentials both at his previous job at PayPal and for the position of acting CEO at Yahoo.

    The accusations came in the form of as a letter from Yahoo activist shareholder Dan Loeb and his investment firm Third Point. They have been fighting for more control at the Yahoo board of directors since the current leadership passed over on a deal with Microsoft which could have made shareholders a lot of money.

    Today Yahoo has announced new leadership to their board and a new chief executive officer. Effective immediately Ross Levinsohn will stand as the interim CEO and Fred Amoroso will hold the position of Chairman on the Yahoo Board of Directors. Amoroso replaces Roy Bostock, who recently agreed to step down from his role in order to accelerate the changes at Yahoo.

    The appointments are part of a settlement with Third Point and also includes the addition of Daniel S. Loeb, Harry J. Wilson, and Michael J. Wolf to the Yahoo board. Board members Patti Hart, VJ Joshi, Arthur Kern and Gary Wilson have also agreed to resign their positions at the firm early to make room for the new members.

    Fred Amoroso, new chairman of the board of directors comments on the changes at Yahoo:

    “The Board is pleased to announce these changes and the settlement with Third Point, and is confident that they will serve the best interests of our shareholders and further accelerate the substantial advances the Company has made operationally and organizationally since last August. The Board believes in the strength of the Company’s business and assets, and in the opportunities before us, and I am honored to work closely with my fellow directors and Ross to continue to drive Yahoo! forward,”

    “On behalf of the entire Board, I would also like to thank Patti, VJ, Arthur, Gary and, in particular, Roy, for their dedicated long-term service and contributions to the Board and Yahoo!.”

    Daniel S. Loeb of Third Point comments on his addition to the Yahoo board:

    “Harry, Michael and I are delighted to join the Yahoo! Board and work collaboratively with our fellow directors to foster a culture of leadership dedicated to innovation, excellence in corporate governance, and responsiveness to users, advertisers and partners. We are confident this Board will benefit from shareholder representation, and we are committed to working with new leadership to unlock Yahoo!’s significant potential and value.”

    Third Point Director Nominee Jeff Zucker adds to the sentiment:

    “I have been supportive of Third Point’s efforts since Daniel asked me to join the slate. When I became aware of Yahoo!’s offer of three board seats to Third Point, I approached Daniel and let him know that I would be happy to step aside to quickly facilitate a settlement. I believe that it is in Yahoo!’s best interests to avoid a prolonged proxy fight and have new board members immediately to help move the company forward. While there is clearly much work to be done, this is the right combination of talented executives to do just that.”

    There’s in no word yet on if Yahoo will fight now resigned CEO Thompson’s claim that he is leaving on account of medical issues. Disputing the claim could save Yahoo millions of dollars in severance pay. Yahoo’s code of ethic requires that each employee be responsible for the accurate listing of their biographical information.

    So it looks like the layoffs were only the beginning of the changes at Yahoo. No doubt this new board will be introducing some drastic deviations from Thompson’s original plan of action for the rest of 2012. We’ll keep you posted as things continue to evolve over at Yahoo.

  • Yahoo CEO Resigns and Third Point Wins Proxy Battle

    Last week was a tough one at Yahoo. It started early in the week with CEO Scott Thompson trying to sidestep direct accusations that he purposefully introduced false academic credentials that showed he held a computer science degree. Claiming that it must have been some sort of oversight, he apologized to the Yahoo staff and urged them to get on with business as usual.

    Despite Thompson’s claim of an oversight, Yahoo did their due diligence and began an investigation of how the false computer science degree appeared in Thompson’s bio and many other documents dating back to his years at Ebay/ PayPal. Although nothing official has yet come out of the investigation, many with knowledge of the scandal were calling for Thompson to step down and alleviate the stressful environment that has been manifesting since the proxy battle began with the Yahoo board and their largest shareholder, Dan Loeb and his investment firm Third Point.

    As the pressures mounted throughout the week it looks like Thompson devised a plan to escape seemingly unscathed. Yesterday morning, All Things D reported that Thompson has discovered he is suffering from an undisclosed health issue and has offered his resignation as CEO at Yahoo.

    If you remember last week, The Yahoo board also accepted the resignation of Patti Hart who was also involved in the false credential scandal. Hart, who was a director on the board, agreed not to stand for reelection after it was revealed that she claimed to hold a degree in economics and marketing when in fact, she was actually a business administration major.

    No doubt these resignations are being celebrated by Loeb and Third Point. They have been fighting for change on the Yahoo board ever since Yahoo passed over on a deal with Microsoft which would have made shareholders a lot of money. At the time, Loeb demanded that he be elected to the Yahoo board. Thompson and the current board members did not agree and this is when the proxy battle kicked into high gear.

    Now we are again looking at some major changes at Yahoo. This all comes at a very bad time for the Silicon Valley firm who just introduced huge layoffs and a giant reorganization of their operations at the beginning of last month. Watch for more updates on the happenings at Yahoo as the day unfolds.

  • Yahoo! CEO Never Actually Gave Out False Credentials

    The newest development in the Yahoo fake credentials debacle has surfaced and it has to do with how the fake credentials made their way into CEO Thompson’s biography. The first thing is that Thompson claims he never actually provided a resume to be considered for the job as CEO at Yahoo. He says a staffing service employee created a document for Yahoo to review and it contained information which mistakingly claimed he had a computer science degree.

    An expert in the field of recruiting high-end executives, Keith Giarman of executive search firm DHR International, said it is indeed not common for someone of Thompson’s magnitude to provide a resume.

    Thompson’s explanation of how the error appeared as early as 2005 is the same, he interviewed with an executive placement firm which peddled him to Ebay/PayPal. He never claimed he possessed a computer science degree in the interview, but it did appear in the documents from the agency, which he admits, he neglectfully failed to review. He also explains that whoever wrote his Yahoo bio obviously took his credentials from the dossier created by the staffing firm.

    As you may remember, we reported earlier this week that Thompson issued a sort of apology to the staff at Yahoo for the disruption the discrepancy has caused. He also pointed out that the Yahoo board has hired a private legal firm to investigate the issue and urged everyone to go on with business as usual. This obviously created some tension for yahoo staff, especially with the pressure on them from activist shareholder Dan Loeb, and his investment firm Third Point, to take action against Thompson.

    Now another major shareholder at Yahoo is jumping on the activist bandwagon. Capital Research and Management, which owns more than 10 percent of Yahoo with two different funds, is beginning to take Dan Loeb and Third Point’s perspective that the board is in desperate need of new leadership.

    Someone close to the situation told All Things D that, “having a CEO with that hanging over his head is really a problem going forward,” and that, “It’s hard to pretend this is not a problem”. It is unlikely that Capital Research and Management will be as vocal as Loeb about their concerns, but none the less, it has been expressed that they are unhappy with the current state of things.

    Anyhow, Yahoo still has the private legal firm diligently investigating the matter and new information is bound to continue surfacing. So far Yahoo has seen the resignation of director Patti Hart, who is responsible for the hiring of Thompson and who passed off false credentials of her own, and we have seen the environment at Yahoo go from positive to worried.

    We will keep you posted as new information comes out of this scandal and proxy battle with Third Point. At this moment it appears Thompson is willing to fight for his position at Yahoo and not back down from Third Point. A leader should not back down in the face of competition, false credentials or not.

  • Yahoo Director Resigns After Discovery of False Credentials

    The latest development in the Yahoo scandal over false credential is here and this time one of the parties involved has resigned their position. Patti Hart, who was listed in a letter to the board from activist investor Dan Loeb, has agreed to not stand for reelection at the upcoming annual meeting, according to All Things D.

    Both Hart and CEO Scott Thompson are under investigation by a private law firm hired by Yahoo to sort out the mess created by some misrepresented college degrees. Hart claimed she was an economics and marketing graduate from Illinois State College when in fact, she was a business administration major. Thompson claimed he was a computer science major when in reality he graduate from the school of accounting.

    On top of being part of the false credential scandal, she is also the main party involved with hiring Thompson, who joined Yahoo in the latter half of 2010. Given her lies on the bio and the yet-to-be determined fate of Thompson, she most likely thought it was a good idea to stay ahead of the axe and part ways before it became inevitable. The pressure is certainly on.

    Here’s a comments from the letter to the board from Loeb:

    “Third Point believes Mr. Thompson and Ms. Hart owe Yahoo!, its Board of Directors and its shareholders an explanation.”

    “Yahoo! shareholders should not have to wait until the (not yet scheduled) Annual Meeting for our nominees to begin the hard work of truly changing the Yahoo! Board.”

    I think it would be fair to assume Loeb pretty much knew how this whole thing would play out. After a couple days in the pressure cooker Thompson came forward last night to apologize for the undue tensions at the firm caused by the scandal, but he still hasn’t admitted any wrong doing on his behalf.

    Thompson Comments:

    “As I told you on Friday, the board is reviewing the issue and I will provide whatever they need from me. In the meantime, I want you to know how deeply I regret how this issue has affected the company and all of you.”

    So there could be more resignations on the way or we could see someone get fired over this. Either way, it doesn’t instill a lot of trust in the leadership at Yahoo or Thompson himself. We’ll be watching for more news to come out of this Yahoo scandal. Check back soon.

  • Scott Thompson is Sorry About the Disruption

    I am sure by now you have heard that the proxy battle between the Yahoo board of directors and activist shareholder Dan Loeb and his firm Third Point has gotten a little ugly for the leadership over at Yahoo. Essentially he caught CEO Scott Thompson and another member of the staff passing off false credentials on their company biographies.

    To make matters worse Thompson completely ignored the issue except to say the Yahoo board was investigating the claims. Of course this left the door wide open for gossip and chatter. The infamous letter from Loeb and Third Point calls for action on behalf of the Yahoo board and more specifically, calls for Thompson to account for the false computer science degree listed on his bio.

    As you may recall, Kara Swisher over at All Things D has been keeping in close communication with the folks over at Yahoo and last night she reported that Thompson issued a sort of apology to the staff. By sort of, I mean he didn’t actually come out and apologize for any wrong doing, but rather apologized for the disruption the debacle has caused. So he’s still skirting the issue: Did he or did he not intentionally lie about a computer science degree?

    Take a look at a few key segments from Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson’s memo to the folks over at Yahoo:

    “As I told you on Friday, the board is reviewing the issue and I will provide whatever they need from me. In the meantime, I want you to know how deeply I regret how this issue has affected the company and all of you.”

    ‘We have all been working very hard to move the company forward, and this has had the opposite effect. For that, I take full responsibility, and I want to apologize to you.”

    “I know the board plans to conduct the review thoroughly and independently, and I respect that process. I am hopeful that this matter will be concluded promptly.”

    “We need to continue to act as one team to fulfill the potential of this great company and keep moving forward. You have my word that all my energy and attention will be on that mission.”

    Certain members of the online community have been vocalizing their opinion on what the right path for Thompson should be, more specifically, Richard Rosenblatt believes the Yahoo CEO should apologize and resign his position. I’ve already heard from many who wrote in to tell us that they agree with Rosenblatt, but we have also heard from others who believe Loeb is a bully and that the board and Yahoo leadership should stand up to him. Tell us what you think.

    In the meantime, Loeb is calling for all the documents surrounding Thomson’s hire over at Yahoo be brought forward and scrutinized for more evidence that he is not a suitable leader.

  • Richard Rosenblatt Says Yahoo’s CEO Should Resign

    Demand Media CEO Richard Rosenblatt is joining the debate about how Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson should react to the recent uncovering of his false credentials by activist investor Dan Loeb. If you recall, Loeb and his investment firm Third Point felt compelled to dig up some dirt on Yahoo’s leadership after he was denied a seat on the board of directors at the company.

    So far, Thompson has failed to directly address the allegations (which have pretty much been confirmed) by Loeb and it has many executives and shareholders over at Yahoo feeling pretty uneasy.

    All Things D reporter Kara Swisher has been staying in the loop of things over at Yahoo and she reached out to Rosenblatt for his commentary on the matter. He got back to her on Twitter and Business Insider was the first to report back on that conversation.

    We will keep you posted as things unravel at Yahoo. In the meantime you can take a look at Rosenblatt’s commentary via Twitter on Thompson’s debacle:

    @demandrichard
    Richard Rosenblatt    @karaswisher if I was him I would grudgingly resign for the good of the thousands of yahoo employees who can’t handle any more drama 1 hour ago via Twitter for iPhone ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @demandrichard
    Richard Rosenblatt    to be clear, I was answering a question @karaswisher asked..nothing more and an off the cuff comment; its up to him and his decision only 30 minutes ago via TweetDeck ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @demandrichard
    Richard Rosenblatt    @sdkstl @karaswisher I agree Scott Thompson’s biggest issue is how he responded; fess up, apologize and ask for mercy 1 day ago via TweetDeck ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @demandrichard
    Richard Rosenblatt    @karaswisher tough call. Yahoo needs stability. Issue is distraction and lack of credibility; impossible to unring the bell 1 hour ago via Twitter for iPhone ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

  • Yahoo Selling Shares to Alibaba

    Yahoo Selling Shares to Alibaba

    Alibaba, China’s largest online business-to-business trading platform, posted Q1 2012 profits of $53.8 million, though Yahoo Inc. is looking to sell a large portion of its shares with the company. Yahoo bought a 40% stake in the platform in 2005, and now Alibaba seeks to buy back some of the ownership, in a deal that could range between $4.8 and $8 billion.

    Last year, Yahoo was reportedly in consideration of getting rid of some of its Asian assets, but a $17 billion deal to sell Alibaba outright fell through. Though, on April 17th, Yahoo CEO and resume padder Scott Thompson asserted that Yahoo was still pursuing a sale, stating, “We are currently exploring a simplified transaction structure which, if executed, would provide greater certainty of closing to monetize a portion of our Alibaba stake.”

    The two companies are again getting close to a deal, in which Yahoo would reportedly sell 15% to 25% of its ownership. Yahoo has declined to comment beyond what was stated on April 17th.

    In related news, a recent poll conducted by Business Insider shows that 80% of those surveyed think Yahoo CEO Thompson should be fired for allowing the board to believe he had a computer science degree.

    scott thompson

    [Via: Business Insider]

  • Yahoos Still Stirring About Thompson’s False Credentials

    Looking back to last week you’ll probably remember that shareholder activist, Dan Loeb and his investment firm Third Point was stirring the pot big time over at Yahoo. In fact, Loeb is darn right pissed off about the professional path Yahoo has been taking and he has been demanding a seat on the board for some time now. He has been claiming if he doesn’t get his way, there’s gonna be an ugly proxy battle.

    Well, as of Friday, it’s on! Loeb did his homework and has exposed some false credentials over their at Yahoo, most notably coming from CEO Scott Thompson. As we reported on Friday, Thompson’s online bio and a slew of other official documents lay claim to a computer science degree he would have received in the late 70’s. The problem is, he never actually studied computer science (unless you count one class) or received a degree in it.

    Yahoo’s official stance is that it was an oversight, or clerical mistake. They took immediate action to change the information as soon as it was pointed out in an official letter to the board of directors at Yahoo. Loeb is demanding the board take action and get a response from Thompson and others involved.

    Today, All Things D reports on the climate over at Yahoo in regard to what went down on Friday, and it sounds like Thompson is trying to skirt the issue altogether.

    An executive over at Yahoo spoke with All Things D about how things were going over at the firm and how Thompson has handled the allegations.

    Here’s what the executive over at Yahoo had to report:

    “It was the gorilla in the room and it was awkward in the extreme,”

    “He never brought it up, which was even worse.”

    CEO Thompson sent a quick memo to employees Friday afternoon expressing a need for them to stay focused on their work and allow the board to conduct an investigation of the events. Take a look:

    “I am sure you have seen the reports of questions raised regarding my undergraduate degree. As we said yesterday, the board is reviewing the matter and, upon completion of its review, will make an appropriate disclosure to shareholders. In the meantime, I’m doing what I hope all of you are doing — staying focused on our customers, our shareholders, our team and moving Yahoo! forward, fast.”

  • Yahoo 2012 First Quarter Revenue & Earnings

    Yahoo 2012 First Quarter Revenue & Earnings

    Those expecting to see a dramatic change in anything at Yahoo yet are simply asking too much. We just learned of the layoffs in recent months and nothing confirmed until the beginning of April. Now that we’ve made it through some layoffs and know a little of CEO Scott Thompson’s plans, we’ll have to see what the reorganization brings to the organization’s bottom line.

    First quarter revenue and earnings really don’t look very different from the same quarter last year. Notable changes include an 11% increase in income from operations, a 28% increase in Net earnings from $223 million to $286 million, and Net earning per diluted share up from $0.17 in Q1 2011 to $0.23 in Q1 2012 (38% increase). Not to say that these aren’t good numbers, but there’s still much work to be done before the results of the fat trimming can be recognized in the eyes of shareholders.

    Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson comments on the results from the first quarter:

    “In the first quarter, Yahoo!’s results came in at the high end of our guidance range and beat consensus on revenue and profits,”

    “We also made changes to resize the organization and establish a new leadership structure to quickly deliver the best user and advertiser experiences at scale.”

    Here’s some of what Yahoo has going for it going into the second quarter of 2012:

    * Yahoo! established a new leadership structure, organizing into three main groups – Consumer, Technology and Regions – bringing resources closer to users and advertisers.

    * Yahoo! is home to 11 number one properties and ranks in the top three in 21 categories in the U.S. (comScore, U.S., March 2012)

    * Yahoo!’s worldwide visitors during January and February grew 7 percent year over year with minutes spent increasing 14 percent in communications and communities and 8 percent in media properties. (based on comScore, Worldwide data)

    * Yahoo! debuted a variety of original comedy Web shows as a part of a collaborative effort between Yahoo! and top-tier production partners. New shows include “First Dates With Toby Harris” featuring Seth Morris (Funny or Die); “Sketchy” (Electus/Principato-Young Entertainment), and “7 Minutes in Heaven” with “Saturday Night Live” writer Mike O’Brien (Broadway Video).

    * Yahoo! also debuted the new ABC-produced daily series, “Power Players,” on Yahoo! News, featuring an ABC and Yahoo! News analyst team, and “Remake America,” a new weekly video series that follows the lives of six real families as they strive to get back on track towards achieving “the American dream.”

    * Yahoo! announced the implementation of a Do Not Track (DNT) header solution that will be accessible across Yahoo!’s global network by early summer.

    * The Yahoo! Board appointed five new independent directors: Alfred Amoroso, former President and CEO of Rovi Corporation; John D. Hayes, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of American Express Company; Peter Liguori, former Chief Operating Officer of Discovery Communications, Inc. and former Chairman and President of Entertainment of Fox Broadcasting Company; Thomas J. McInerney, former Chief Financial Officer of IAC/InterActiveCorp; and Maynard Webb, Chairman of LiveOps, Inc.

    * To protect the investments of Yahoo! and the inventions of its employees, Yahoo! sued Facebook for infringement of ten patents. Yahoo! has invested substantial resources over many years to innovate and earn this intellectual property and the lawsuit is intended to enforce Yahoo!’s rights.

    Thompson reveals his thoughts on how Yahoo has been operating:

    “Yahoo has built processes that were originally intended to help us scale but they’ve become way too complex and stifled innovation,”

    “Each of our products and services may individually generate more engagement than most start-ups…but that does not mean we should continue to do everything we currently do,”

    “Yahoo has been doing way too much for too long and was only doing a few things really well,”

    “We need to be clearer going forward about what we won’t do,”

    Plans to shutdown over 50 properties at the firm:

    According to Tech Crunch (TC), Thompson has plans to trim 50 properties from their current operations. While this action may cut revenue it will increase margins overall. Yahoo will still be involved in creating new products, but it sounds like Thompson is focused on refining what they already have.

  • Yahoo!’s Pulse On the Internet Flatlines

    Business Insider reports that Yahoo’s internet traffic has been steadily decreasing since 2008. In 2008 people spent a total of 13.8% of their time on the site and as of this first quarter of 2012, 8% was all that was left of that number.

    Business Insider recently unveiled their new BI Intelligence service and they have used it to produce this graph on Yahoo! traffic:

    yahoo internet traffic

    It’s true, the numbers are terrible, but people have more to do than hang out searching Yahoo!. After all, social networking is where its at today, but these figures are not wasted on the former internet pioneer. Earlier this month Scott Thompson, CEO at Yahoo! introduced a new plan to reorganize Yahoo! and reinvent the way they do business.

    No doubt these traffic patterns weighed heavy on his decision to layoff thousands of employees and transform the structure of their business. In todays economy you have to adapt quickly or die. The changes at Yahoo take effect May 1st. So far there really isn’t much to report except the layoffs and restructuring themselves, but I am sure that will change as soon as the new policies take hold.

    We’ll be watching Scott Thompson and the Yahoos closely in the coming months to see if the changes can breath new life into the organization. We’ll keep you updated as news becomes available.

  • Yahoo CEO to Outline New Plans Next Week

    If you recall, Wednesday Yahoo Inc. announced their definitive intention to layoff over two thousand members of their current workforce. Later that same day, CEO Scott Thompson introduced a letter to his fellow Yahoo employees describing the need for downsizing and restructuring in their organization.

    In the letter he addressed each of the core components to Yahoo’s business model, and expressed sincere concern for the health of those components.Today Reuters reports that Thompson has called for an all-hands meeting this coming Tuesday.

    Apparently the purpose of the meeting is to lay out new goals for the organization and begin to implement plans of action for the coming weeks. It is unclear what any of those plans are, but it is likely many will discover their fate at the transitioning company .

    We’ll be watching for more news to come from CEO Thompson and Yahoo Inc. If anything new should come to light, you can read about it here.

  • Yahoo Chief Product Officer Quits

    Yahoo Chief Product Officer Quits

    Although Yahoo Inc. has not made an official announcement on the matter, it has been reported that Blake Irving, chief product officer for the company, has quit. His resignation is said to have been planned ahead of Yahoo’s layoff announcement earlier this week.

    Yahoo has been undergoing a massive restructuring, and the new plan will eventually eliminate the department that Irving was in charge of, as a big part of the thousands of employees that were laid off made up his former group. Adding further speculation of a general retooling of Yahoo’s leadership, co-founder and former CEO Jerry Yang resigned earlier this year, and chairman Roy Bostock declared that he is one of the four board members that won’t be seeking re-election.

    It’s been said that Irving was one of the chiefs who disagreed with CEO Scott Thompson’s plan for restructuring, and was specifically not too keen on the large number of layoffs with no set plan. Thompson has said that the layoffs were necessary to focus on Yahoo’s “core purpose,” and would save the company roughly $375 million. Despite the layoffs, resignations and speculation, Yahoo isn’t expected to formally say anything, until its quarterly report later in the month.

    Interestingly, Irving very recently spoke of “the next web,” referring to the future of the internet, and claimed it will be driven largely by Yahoo – “I see a future where deeply personal digital experiences are easy to discover, delightful to consume, and effortless to share. If done right, it will transform the way people use the Web. When I say ‘deep personalization,’ I don’t just mean some preference controls; I mean content that is so timely, relevant and personal that it actually adds meaning to your life.” Was Irving even referring to Yahoo?

  • Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson: Letter To His Employees

    You’ve got it, Yahoo! officially confirmed their “real changes” and huge restructuring and downsizing of the internet giant today. Now, Scott Thompson CEO of Yahoo has issued a letter to his employees regarding the changes at Yahoo, obtained by the Wall Street Journal.

    I think you should give it a read. It’s a sad day for many employees at Yahoo, but a necessary step for the future of the organization.

    The letter begins:

    Yahoos –

    Today we are restructuring Yahoo! to give ourselves the opportunity to compete and win in our core business. The changes we’re announcing today will put our customers first, allow us to move fast, and to get stuff done. The outcome of these changes will be a smaller, nimbler, more profitable Yahoo! better equipped to innovate as fast as our customers and our industry require.

    Over the last 60 days, we’ve fundamentally re-thought every part of our business and we will continue to actively consider all options that allow Yahoo! to put maximum effort where we can succeed. As part of this process, I believe we have to focus to win in a select group of core businesses globally:

    Core Media and Communications: Our content, media, and communications experiences must be best in class. That includes getting today’s core properties right and innovating on a next generation of great product experiences across all screens.∙

    Platforms: We must make our core platforms and systems a genuine strength for Yahoo! – platforms that we can really leverage to support our massive scale, drive the deepest personalization, and boost speed to market.∙

    Data: Our massive data sets must become a genuine competitive advantage for Yahoo!. We have to unlock the value in our data to allow us to really understand our 700 million users, encourage and win their engagement and trust, leverage everything they do with us to more fully personalize their experiences, and to give our advertisers the immediate insights they are rightfully demanding.

    Follow the WSJ link to read the whole thing.

  • Yahoo Hopes to Combat Activist Shareholder Third Point

    The leadership at Yahoo thinks it can ward off a challenge from activist shareholder Daniel Loeb of Third Point, by aggressively courting three new board members to replace the five that are leaving.

    The internet giant has already filled two of the five open slots, but now the company is scrambling to bring on the final three, at the face of increasing proxy pressure from Third Point. Still, according to several sources, Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson has said that the threat from Third Point, which own 6% of the company, is not as substantial as some might think.

    Yahoo’s headhunting firm Heidrick & Struggles has been reaching out to some high-profile media executives about joining the company’s board, who include former News Corp executives Peter Chemin and Tony Vinciquerra, and former MTV boss Judy McGrath.

    Sources indicate that Chemin and Vinciquerra have already turned down their offers, amidst a potential proxy battle and other changes taking place.

    Loeb, known for writing public letters concerning his disapproval of fellow financial executives, has submitted a preliminary proxy filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, to make a case that Yahoo should add his own people from his Third Point hedge fund to the board, including former NBC head Jeff Zucker. Loeb’s filing came after discussions with Thompson went nowhere, to make Third Point’s board selections public.

    If Yahoo names new directors, this would be an affront to Loeb and Third Point, which might lead to a ground battle for investor votes.