Boohoo, Yahoo: Thompson's Resumé Fraud and 7 More
Life + Money

Boohoo, Yahoo: Thompson's Resumé Fraud and 7 More

Yodel Anecdotal/Yahoo! Inc.

The latest victim to fall from grace due to resume fraud is Scott Thompson, who was named Yahoo’s chief executive in January. The former president of PayPal graduated from Stonehill College in Massachusetts with a degree in accounting – but he also claimed he had a degree in computer science. Turns out the college didn’t offer that degree until several years after Thompson claimed he earned his.

 

“Holding these credentials seem(ed) very plausible for someone with Thompson’s job history,” Melinda Blackman, a professor of psychology at California State University in Fullerton, said on CNN this morning, “and since he was a well known and successful executive, a background check was probably put on the backburner.”

After being exposed by a Yahoo shareholder, Daniel S. Loeb, however, Thompson apologized for the misrepresentation and has now stepped down. (He’s also reportedly told the board that he’s been diagnosed with thyroid cancer.) What’s clear is that he’s not the only high-profile business or government leader to have been caught fudging the details of personal credentials. Plenty of folks before him have gotten away with it. Click on our photo gallery of seven others who have “creatively enhanced” their resumes over the years – and then paid a dreadful price.

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