Scott Thompson (businessman)

For other people named Scott Thompson, see Scott Thompson (disambiguation).
Scott Thompson

Scott Thompson greets Yahoos at Sunnyvale HQ, in January 2012.
Born Scott Thompson
(1957-11-13) 13 November 1957
Taunton, Massachusetts
Nationality United States
Alma mater Stonehill College (degree in Accounting)
Occupation Business executive
Board member of Kabbage Inc,Vertica Systems Inc, Zuora Inc.

Scott Thompson (born November 13, 1957) is an American businessman, and currently CEO of ShopRunner.[1] Previously, he was Chief Executive Officer of Yahoo!.

Early life and education

Thompson was born November 13, 1957, in Taunton, Massachusetts, and grew up in nearby Raynham. He was an accounting major from Stonehill College, a private Catholic school in Easton, Massachusetts.[2]

Career

ShopRunner

Thompson joined the online-shopping service ShopRunner as CEO in July 2012.[3]

Yahoo!

In early April 2012, Thompson announced and executed a plan to reduce Yahoo!'s 14,000 employees by 2,000, or 14% of the workforce[4] Several executives left Yahoo! just before the layoffs began.[5][6]

On March 14, 2012, Yahoo! filed a patent lawsuit against Facebook over ten patents.[7][8] Facebook responded with a countersuit.[9][10][11][12]

College degree controversy

Yahoo! hired Thompson as CEO in January 2012.[13] On May 3, 2012, activist investor Dan Loeb, CEO of Third Point LLC, sent a letter to Yahoo’s Board of Directors and made the contents of the letter public in a press release.[14] The letter cites a Yahoo! SEC filing stating that Thompson "holds a Bachelor's degree in accounting and computer science" from Stonehill College and that Loeb had reason to believe that the degree was "in accounting only". Loeb questioned if Thompson had "embellished his academic credentials" and questioned if the Board had "failed to exercise appropriate diligence and oversight in one of its most fundamental tasks – identifying and hiring the Chief Executive Officer." At one point in the letter, Loeb appears to suggest that Thompson was claiming to have earned a degree in computer science, a more serious charge than embellishing his B.S.B.A. with an unofficial or non-existent minor. However such charges were never proven and the source and timeline of the discrepancy remains unknown.

At least one official Yahoo! biography and the Yahoo!'s filings with the SEC stated that he "holds a Bachelor’s degree in accounting and computer science from Stonehill College". However, the 2008–10 proxy statements of eBay, Thompson's former employer, only noted an accounting degree.[15] Yahoo! initially acknowledged the misstatement as "an inadvertent error",[16] then subsequently began an investigation.[17] Stonehill College responded to press inquiries by stating that Thompson was granted a B.S.B.A. degree in Accounting.

On May 13, 2012, Yahoo! issued a press release stating that Thompson was no longer with the company, and would immediately be replaced on an interim basis by Ross Levinsohn, recently appointed head of Yahoo's new Media group.[18][19][20] Thompson's total compensation for his 130-day tenure with Yahoo! will be at least $7.3 million.[21]

PayPal

Prior to Yahoo!, he worked for eBay subsidiary PayPal as President and, before that, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, where he oversaw information technology, product development, and architecture.[22] During his tenure at PayPal from 2005 to 2012, the business grew significantly and became a tangible component of its parent company's revenues.

Visa

Thompson has also worked as Executive Vice President of Technology Solutions for Inovant,[22] a subsidiary of Visa Inc. that oversees the company's global technology. At Inovant, he was responsible for all development, support, and maintenance of Visa's global payment system. He was also Chief Information Officer at Barclays Global Investors, where he implemented a technology platform and global infrastructure, but was fired for alleged disagreements about strategy.[22] In addition, he worked for Coopers & Lybrand, delivering information technology solutions to leading financial services clients such as Wells Fargo.

Awards

In 2011 Thompson received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for financial services for Northern California.[23]

Cancer diagnosis

In 2012, Thompson was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, which was said to be a reason for leaving Yahoo![24][25] By July 2012 he was given a clean bill of health.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Protalinski, Emil (2012-07-23). "Former Yahoo Chief Scott Thompson Hired As New CEO of ShopRunner". Thenextweb.com. Retrieved 2013-01-03.
  2. ↑
  3. 1 2 Efrati, Amir; Bensinger, Greg (July 24, 2012). "Ousted Yahoo Chief Lands New CEO Role". The Wall Street Journal. p. B3. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
  4. ↑ Carlson, Nicholas (April 4, 2012). "Yahoo Fires Thousands". Business Insider. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Yahoo Brainiac Drain Continues: Goodbye to Broder, Mao - Kara Swisher - News". AllThingsD. 2012-03-27. Retrieved 2013-01-03.
  6. ↑ "Exclusive: Yahoo's Chief Product Officer Blake Irving Resigns - Kara Swisher - News". AllThingsD. 2012-04-05. Retrieved 2013-01-03.
  7. ↑ Reuters (2012-03-14). "Yahoo sues Facebook over 10 patents - Business News | IOL Business". IOL.co.za. Archived from the original on May 19, 2012. Retrieved 2013-01-03.
  8. ↑ Levine, Dan. "Yahoo sues Facebook for infringing 10 patents". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 2013-01-03.
  9. ↑ Barnett, Emma (April 4, 2012). "Facebook sues Yahoo". The Daily Telegraph (London).
  10. ↑ "Facebook Smacks Back at Yahoo With Patent Claims in Counter-Lawsuit - Kara Swisher - News". AllThingsD. 2012-04-03. Retrieved 2013-01-03.
  11. ↑ Wednesday, April 4th, 2012 (2012-04-04). "How Facebook’s Winning The War Against Yahoo, Patent By Patent". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2013-01-03.
  12. ↑ "Yahoo patents could throw a monkey wrench into Facebook’s IPO hopes". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2013-01-03.
  13. ↑ "Biographical info on Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson". Bloomberg Businessweek. Associated Press. May 14, 2012. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
  14. ↑ "Third Point LLC Letter To Yahoo! Board Of Directors Regarding Discovery Of... - NEW YORK, May 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/". Prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2013-01-03.
  15. ↑ Tsukayama, Hayley (May 4, 2012). "Yahoo says CEO Scott Thompson does not have computer science degree". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 4, 2012. Mr. Thompson holds a B.S. degree in Accounting from Stonehill College
  16. ↑ "Yahoo’s Response on CEO’s Computer Science ResumeGate: "Inadvertent Error"". May 3, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
  17. ↑ Efrati, Emir; Lublin, Joann S. "Yahoo Probes CEO's Hiring". The Wall Street Journal. p. B2.
  18. ↑ "Yahoo! Names Fred Amoroso Chairman and Appoints Ross Levinsohn Interim CEO (NASDAQ:YHOO)". Investor.yahoo.net. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  19. ↑ "It's Official: Yahoo Reorgs Itself Just Like We Said (Memo Time!) - Kara Swisher - News". AllThingsD. 2012-04-10. Retrieved 2013-01-03.
  20. ↑ Oreskovic, Alexei (May 11, 2012). "UPDATE 2-Yahoo CEO says he never provided a resume-source". Reuters.
  21. ↑ Pepitone, Julianne (May 14, 2012). "Ousted Yahoo CEO will get no severance". CNN Money. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
  22. 1 2 3 "Scott Thompson: Executive Profile & Biography". BusinessWeek. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
  23. ↑ "2011 Northern California region award recipients". Ernst & Young. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
  24. ↑ Seth Fiegerman (2012-05-14). "Scott Thompson Diagnosed With Thyroid Cancer". Business Insider. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  25. ↑ Morphy, Erika. "Thompson's Cancer: A New Twist to the Yahoo Saga - Forbes". Forbes.
Business positions
Preceded by
Tim Morse
Acting		 Chief Executive Officer of Yahoo!
2012 		Succeeded by
Ross Levinsohn
Acting
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