Yahoo is going to make the next two days a long weekend for several people. Daniel S. Loeb of Third Point, the hedge fund in a bitter proxy fight with Yahoo, is demanding that chief executive Scott Thompson be terminated by noon on Monday, May 7.
The letter from Loeb, readable below, also seeks the dismissal of director Patti Hart. Both are subject to scrutiny over the accuracy of credentials listed in their respective résumés.
In addition, Loeb wants full details of the search process Yahoo undertook before choosing its chief executive. Not surprisingly, considering the hiring practices of almost all major companies, he particularly wants to know what methods Yahoo used to verify the information submitted by candidates.
“To assert that years of inaccurate S.E.C. filings, website biographies and, most likely, D&O questionnaires and curriculum vitae (including, presumably, the CV provided to Yahoo when Mr. Thompson reached out for the job) were ‘inadvertent’ is, in our view, the height of arrogance,” Mr. Loeb wrote in his letter to shareholders.
The letter further asserts that anyone who misrepresented his or her qualifications would be in violation of Yahoo’s requirement that they have “an impeccable reputation of integrity and competence,” as specified in the company’s Code of Ethics.
“Permitting Mr. Thompson and Ms. Hart to stay with the Company after apparently violating the Code of Ethics sends a message to all Yahoo employees that a different set of rules applies at the top,” Loeb’s letter stated, before reiterating his insistence that Yahoo accept the Third Point nominees to the board.
Related links:
New York Times – Third Point Demands Yahoo C.E.O. Be Fired by Monday
Associated Press – Yahoo investor tells board to fire CEO for lying
Wall Street Journal – Hedge Fund Presses Yahoo Attack
Bloomberg – Yahoo Board Reviews CEO Record as Investor Seeks Thompson Firing
Financial Times – Yahoo faces calls to sack chief over résumé
