Thompson Quits as Yahoo! CEO, Replace by Levinsohn

May 13, 2012 by Douglas A. McIntyre

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) announced that embattled CEO Scott Thompson, who was caught lying about his resume just two weeks ago, has resigned.

Ross Levinsohn was named interim chief executive officer. Fred Amoroso was named chairman.

Third Point, which initially brought the problem with Thompson to light, and which owns nearly 6% of the company, will get three board seats. The investment firm has been in the early stages of a proxy fight with the board.

Yahoo! announced that long-time chairman Roy Bostock would leave and:

Under the Board’s settlement agreement with Third Point, three Third Point nominees — Daniel S. Loeb, Harry J. Wilson, and Michael J. Wolf — will join the Yahoo! Board, effective May 16, 2012. Mr. Bostock, along with Patti Hart, VJ Joshi, Arthur Kern and Gary Wilson, all of whom previously disclosed their intentions not to stand for re-election, as well as Mr. Thompson, have decided to step down from the Board immediately.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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