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Yahoo!’s (NASDAQ:YHOO) new CEO, a liar

Scott Thompson became Yahoo!’s new CEO, investors were skeptical from the get go. Mr. Thompson an e-commerce expert who had run eBay’s (NASDAQ: EBAY) PayPal unit, with Zero credentials in Search, Online Content, or Display Ad sales.

Some of the skepticism went away when he fired 2,000 people at the outset. But former Yahoo! CEO’s had done the same.

Mr. Thompson said he would go beyond the layoffs, close and/or sell the portal firm’s weak units while focusing on driving e-commerce revenue higher.

He appeared tough enough to get deals to sell Yahoo!’s multibillion-dollar stakes in Alibaba and Yahoo! Japan. He would not rush, he would be patient, he had to he was dealing with the Asians, they are born patient.

Thursday, Third Point, the owner of a 8.1% stake showed that Mr. Thompson had overstated (lied) his past education.

Mr .Thompson claimed he had a degree in computer science, according to his CV, and in fact, he does not. To make matters worse, the head of the committee that found the new CEO, had “lied” about her resume too, too. Patti Hart’s claims about her degrees were exaggerated, Third Point said.

The Yahoo! board says it will look into it, and stand by Mr. Thompson for now. Maybe it will cost him his job. Maybe Ms. Hart will have to leave too.

It is hard to see how Third Point gains leverage in the process. It still will own 8.1%. The board still will have the power to find a new CEO, and will have to do it now.

Third Point may try to rally investors to throw out the board, that would be very hard to do. But Third Point could push Yahoo! back into disarray.

The investment firm’s plans “backfired” in my opinion. Yahoo could force out Third Point’s stake, perhaps that’s what TP wants or TP could be playing on behalf of Jack Ma and Alibaba.

The next step in the public pillorying of Mr. Thompson is that the board will examine all the claims he has made about his background. There may be more mistakes and if so Mr. Thompson will not be able to survive and Yahoo! will be on the hunt for its 4th CEO in 5 yrs.

Mr. Thompson quickly went from being poorly qualified to run Yahoo! to perhaps the only CEO in recent history who had intelligent plans to turn the portal company around and to just another guy who “Gilded” his resume. Hero to Scapegoat, in a few weeks.

Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) management

Hedge fund Third Point LLC continues to attack Yahoo Inc’s management, call for the immediate termination of CEO Scott Thompson for fake academic credentials.

Third Point owns about 5% of Yahoo, and Thursday began to publicly question the accuracy of filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that said Mr. Thompson holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and computer science from Stonehill College.

Third Point, run by activist investor Dan Loeb, also questioned filings describing Yahoo director Patti Hart as holding a degree in marketing and economics from Illinois State University.

Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) director David Kenny into the bright lights

An analyst said Saturday that David W. Kenny is now Yahoo!’s (NASDAQ: YHOO) most important director now, as he serves on the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.

That committee is charged with developing and recommending to the Board a set of corporate governance principles applicable to the Company, and overseeing corporate governance matters overall.

The committee members include Patti Hart, herself accused of misrepresenting her education, and Arthur Kern who will not stand for re-election to the board.

Last week we learned that Yahoo’s chief executive, Scott Thompson claimed on his CV that he has a degree in Computer Science from Stonehill College, he does not.

And, now Ms. Hart, who led the “hunt” for the CEO slot, claimed she has a degree in degree in marketing and economics from Illinois State University, she does not.

So, now the pressure is on Mr. Kenny because of the attrition in the Yahoo! board has new members Peter Liguori, Alfred J. Amoroso, John D. Hayes, Thomas J. McInerney, and Maynard G. Webb, Jr. knowing not a lot about the company or management as Mr. Kenny.

What I am reading today is that governance experts believe that the Yahoo! board has no choice but to axe Ms. Hart and Mr. Thompson off the board. The board must hold its members and management to high ethical standards.

Mr. Thompson’s reputation has been damaged, and that will be a major in his relationship with shareholders, customers, and employees, and Yahoo! is in big trouble now to boot.

Mr. Kenny really does not have a choice about the role he is play in the decisions about Ms. Hart and Mr. Thompson, he is the central figure and in the Key decision making spot. The company will be judged by what he does now with this new scandal.

Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) resumes talks sell 15-25% of Alibaba (PK:ALBCF)

Yahoo Inc may be just a few week away from selling 15 to 25% of Alibaba Group’s stock back to China’s largest e-Commerce company

The 2 companies have been in talks for about a month now, but there is no guarantee a deal will be reached.

Discussions have been held in recent years about a deal for Alibaba to buy back some or all of the 40% stake in the company that Yahoo acquired in Y 2005.

A $17-B tax-free asset swap between the 2 companies fell apart last February.

This new deal would straightforward and not be tax-free according to a media report from an unnamed source on Friday evening.

“The overall complexity of this deal is much simpler. There’s no IRS risk, there’s no complications with regards to the identification of assets,” the person said. In a best case scenario, a deal could be weeks away, the person was quoted as saying.

Yahoo and Alibaba did not comment.

To fund the deal, Alibaba would have to raise capital. The valuation that Alibaba receives in the fund-raising will determine how much Yahoo earns in the transaction.

Last September, Alibaba was valued at $32-B according to media reports at the time. At that valuation, Yahoo could make $4.8 to 8-B by selling 15 to 25% of Alibaba.

Yahoo subsequently said Mr. Thompson’s degree from Stonehill College was just in accounting, and not in accounting and computer science, while Hart holds a business administration degree with specialities in marketing and economics.

Third Point Friday said Yahoo’s board should also accept the resignation of Ms. Hart for similar reasons.

A representative for Yahoo wasn’t immediately available for comment.

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Knightsbridge Law is a boutique law firm in Thailand. The lawyers of our firm have provided legal advice on a variety of areas of the legal practice, including:

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Paul A. Ebeling, Jnr.

Paul A. Ebeling, Jnr. writes and publishes The Red Roadmaster’s Technical Report on the US Major Market Indices, a weekly, highly-regarded financial market letter, read by opinion makers, business leaders and organizations around the world.

Paul A. Ebeling, Jnr has studied the global financial and stock markets since 1984, following a successful business career that included investment banking, and market and business analysis. He is a specialist in equities/commodities, and an accomplished chart reader who advises technicians with regard to Major Indices Resistance/Support Levels.

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