Yahoo Director Steps Down Over Resume Padding Scandal

Patti Hart, the Yahoo director that led the search for a new CEO after Carol Bartz stepped down last year, announced Tuesday she is relinquishing her post on the company’s board after it was discovered that the candidate chosen, Scott Thompson, lied on his resume about his academic career. Thompson’s resume, and his bio on the Yahoo website, claimed that he had received accounting and computer science degrees from Stonehill College, which did not even offer a computer science degree at the time he attended. The discovery was made by Daniel Loeb, the CEO of Third Point, a hedge fund that is among Yahoo’s biggest shareholders.

Loeb has been pressuring Yahoo to replace several board members with candidates of its choosing, and also reported the resume padding to the SEC. Since then he has been pressuring the company to fire Thompson and Hart, who led the search. Hart, who also serves as the CEO of International Gaming Technology, said in an interview that the board had asked her to step down, though the board released a statement thanking her for her service and wishing her all the best.

As for Thompson, Yahoo appointed a special committee on Tuesday to investigate the chief executive’s academic background and the circumstances around his hiring. The committee will consist of three new board members, none of which have ties to the committee that chose Thompson as Bartz’s successor.