Reluctantly Defending Scott Thompson
Scott Thompson, the now ex-CEO of Yahoo, is fading back into tech history for lying about receiving a computer science degree. Couple that with a dash of thyroid cancer, and you have one rough month on your hands.
Thompson is completely at fault for lying. And regardless of what he said, he was lying about that - it’s too convenient of a mistake to make. He got what he deserved (being fired, not cancer).
That said, after a bit of research, I failed to find ANYONE standing up for him. I find that more than a little surprising. So, for the sake of balance, I’m stepping into character to defend this cancer-riddled, litigation-happy corporate reject.
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Prior to coming to Yahoo, Thompson worked at PayPal where he came in as CTO. Prior to that, he had an impressive career with various companies as an IT executive. He had all the skills that any other computer science major had, he just “accidentally” said that he’d attained that particular degree on his resume.
Does what Thompson’s resume says affect his ability to lead an organization? Does it change the skills that hee’d already demonstrated as a successful technology executive for other organizations? Does this affect his ability to add value to Yahoo…or at least lose Yahoo value more slowly? Would he realistically have remembered anything from those computer science courses had he actually taken them?
Let’s keep in mind that this whole controversy was started by Dan Loeb, an activist shareholder. Last time I checked, the American public supposed to find corporate raiders contemptible, at least 4 years ago. Now we’re looking to them for guidance for who to run our FORMERLY cherished technology jewels? Is the entire American public Loeb’s puppet?
Yahoo needs a long-term CEO. Aimlessly casting about for 10+ years has taken it’s toll on the company. Is booting yet another CEO out of the head office what’s best for Yahoo? It can’t possibly be.
What if this had happened to a rockstar tech CEO? There would have been a completely different response. Would Mark Zuckerberg have gotten any more than a slap on the wrist?
Tech bloggers frequently complain about uniform thinking in the tech industry, and particularly in Silicon Valley. They generally refer to entrepreneurs. If they’re a legitimate Valley reporter, they’ll call themselves out while they’re at it. But in this case, no one is questioning leaving Thompson out to dry.
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Thompson’s lying doesn’t sit well with me, but neither does the public response. This man deserves a legitimate defense. Too bad he won’t get one.






