Yahoo! investor! accuses! CEO! of! embellishing! resume! A major investor in troubled internet portal Yahoo! has accused the CEO Scott Thompson of padding his resume by falsely claiming a degree in computer science. Daniel Loeb, of investment group Third Point, issued a public letter to Yahoo! calling foul on Thompson's claim to have a degree in accounting and computer science. …
If I falsely claimed to have a degree in accounting (since I really do have one in computer science) I'd be fired so fast it would break land speed records, regardless of whether or not I needed those skills in my job. Rightfully so, I might add. So why is Thompson not flying out a window followed by his termination papers? Answers on the back of a P45.
The first question that should be asked is if Thompson has ever claimed to have a degree in computer science. Right now all we have is that SOMEONE at one point said that he had the degree, but I have never seen any evidence that Thompson himself said it.
After all, just because someone puts it in Wikipedia, or on some bio page somewhere, doesn't mean that it is true or that Thompson had anything to do with it.
It was on his official Yahoo! bio and all of his bio pages. There is no way that he was not a part of proving the information... and he never sought to correct the error. An "inadvertent error" is absurd. If he spelled it "copmuter science", that would be an inadvertent error. Claiming to have a credential that he doesn't at all is a different story.
"This in no way alters that fact that Mr. Thompson is a highly qualified executive with a successful track record leading large consumer technology companies."
Actually, it sort of calls all of it into question. How many of those gigs did he get because they thought he was a computer scientist? It is a snowball effect. He got his first few jobs because they thought he was a computer scientist, he got his next tier of jobs because he had the first tier of jobs. If you pull out the initial credential, the whole thing because questionable. He was the CTO at Paypal and the CIO at Barclays. Generally those jobs would require some IT credential.
Surely that's just about as rare as hens teeth ... If I were forming a SillyConValley start-up again[1], I wouldn't want a single damn one of the shysters as investors, much less in the boardroom.
[1] Never again. Three under my belt, which is more than enough for a lifetime.
Personally I wouldn't care if he lied about having a CS degree (there are far worse things to lie about) and tbh I don't really see how it makes a difference. Yahoo won't magically become a super power if they fire yet another ceo and hire one purely because he has a CS degree.
Is the guy doing a good job? If so then who cares? He perhaps lied in his past to get a job he knew he was capable of and the lie just continued to live on. If he's not doing a good job then get rid of him but having a CS degree doesn't change the fact he's doing a poor job.
The point is, if he is willing to lie about having a degree in something he does not have a degree in, is there anything else he would be willing to do? Backstab colleagues to further himself? Hire a porn actress as a subcontractor then get blackmailed (hello, Mr Hurd!).
It just wouldn't occur to me to lie about something important and verifiable on a CV. I am always suspicious about those that do.
Ok, most people 'enhance' their CVs. Afterall, why say you are 'proficiant' in something when 'expert' rolls off the tongue that much easier. Once you get the job you can start reading up on it. Flat out porky pies are another matter- you really need to be an expert blagger.
This CEO lied, it's his job. The fact he couldn't even lie correctly is the worrying thing.
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