Deadline Third Point

Third Point CEO Daniel Loeb seems to have gotten just about everything he could want from the settlement agreement with Yahoo, disclosed today in an SEC filing. Yahoo agreed to pay Third Point $4M to compensate … Read More »

UPDATE, 12:31 PM: The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson told the board over the weekend that he has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. The WSJ says the disclosure might have impacted the company’s decision to accept Thompson’s resignation. The report adds that Thompson began telling colleagues as early as Friday that he was stepping down. Meanwhile, CNNMoney is reporting that Thompson could owe up to $7 million in upfront bonus money he received when he was hired in January.

Related: New Yahoo CEO Could Make $27M in 2012

PREVIOUS, SUNDAY PM: It’s official: Thompson’s four-month reign is over, following the disclosure that he misrepresented his bachelors’ degree. He “has left the Company,” Yahoo says — and the board has a deal with Third Point CEO Daniel Loeb, who has abandoned his proxy fight. Ross Levinsohn replaces Thompson as interim chief executive “effective immediately.” Roy Bostock has stepped down as Non-Executive Chairman, replaced by Fred Amoroso. In addition, hedge fund manager Loeb and two allies — media consultant Michael Wolf and restructuring expert Harry Wilson — will join the board on Wednesday. Former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Zucker won’t be with them. With only three board seats going to Loeb’s group, Zucker says he agreed to step aside “to quickly facilitate a settlement.”

Here’s the announcement: Read More »

Third Point CEO Daniel Loeb, who controls 5.8% of Yahoo’s shares, continues to punch away at the Yahoo board — which seems to already be on the ropes following the disclosure that Thompson misrepresented his bachelor’s degree. This morning Loeb sent directors a letter urging them to place himself and three colleagues (including former NBCUniversal chief Jeff Zucker) on Yahoo’s board. He wants them to name an interim CEO to replace Thompson. And he wants one of his allies, media consultant Michael Wolf, to chair a search committee to find a full time replacement. “Third Point has over $1 billion invested in Yahoo! and we take no joy in witnessing this carnage,” Loeb writes. “This Board’s unchecked value destruction must stop once and for all.” Read More »

This is the next shoe to drop after the board didn’t go along with the demand by Third Point chief Daniel Loeb to fire Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson by noon ET today. The hedge fund manager. who controls 5.8% of Yahoo shares, says that Delaware General Corporation Law entitles him to inspect books and records beginning September 1 tied to the board’s decision to hire Thompson, as well as other material that would shed light on the naming of directors Patti Hart, Peter Liguori, John Hayes, Thomas McInerney, Maynard Webb Jr, and Fred Amoroso. The dissident shareholder has hired law firms Willkie Farr & Gallagher and Bouchard Margules & Friedlander to conduct the inspection on his behalf. Read More »

UPDATE, 12:45 PM: Here’s Yahoo’s response to Daniel Loeb: “As we have previously said, the board is reviewing this matter and, upon completion of its review, will make an appropriate disclosure to shareholders.”

PREVIOUS, 12:11 PM: Third Point CEO Daniel Loeb, who owns 5.8% of Yahoo‘s stock, made his demand following the revelation yesterday that the company’s proxy and web site inaccurately described Thompson’s college credential. Yahoo said that he had a bachelor’s degree in accounting and computer science from Stonehill College. But it acknowledged that it made an “inadvertent error” after Loeb checked and discovered that the school didn’t offer a computer science major when Thompson graduated. Loeb says today, in a letter to the board, that the company’s response was “the height of arrogance” — belittling the likelihood that Thompson misrepresented his qualifications, and that the board didn’t double check his information. “Mr. Thompson and the Board should make no mistake: this is a big deal,” Loeb says. “CEOs have been terminated for less at other companies.” He wants the board to fire Thompson “for cause immediately given his demonstrable unsuitability to remain Chief Executive Officer and a director of Yahoo!” If that’s not done by noon ET on Monday, Read More »

This isn’t a huge scandal, but it does provide Third Point CEO Daniel Loeb — who owns 5.8% of Yahoo shares — with some fodder for his campaign to shake up the company’s board. It seems that Yahoo’s draft proxy statement and web site say that CEO Scott Thompson earned a bachelor’s degree from Stonehill College in “accounting and computer science.” But Loeb says in a letter today to the board that when he checked, ”Stonehill College informed us that it did not begin awarding computer science degrees until 1983 — four years after Mr. Thompson graduated.” Loeb adds that if Thompson “embellished his academic credentials we think that it 1) undermines his credibility as a technology expert and 2) reflects poorly on the character of the CEO who has been tasked with leading Yahoo! at this critical juncture.”

Yahoo admits that “there was an inadvertent error that stated Mr. Thompson also holds a degree in computer science.” His degree is in business administration with a major in accounting. “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,” Yahoo says. Read More »