Yahoo is ready to start searching for a new CEO. As you may recall, Scott Thompson resigned after a rather lengthy proxy battle with activist investor Dan Loeb a his investment firm, Third Point.
The surprising climax of that battle was the unearthing of a critical oversight on then current CEO, Scott Thompson’s credentials, claiming he held a computer science degree when he indeed, did not.
Thompson chose to resign rather than continue on with a tarnished record. Executive Vice President, Ross Levinsohn then stepped in as acting interim CEO. While Levinsohn may be the frontrunner for the job, Yahoo is none the less starting their search for Thompson’s permanent replacement.
In fact, Levinsohn isn’t wasting any time, and has already moved forward with plans to get the company back on track. His first priority is to divest several assets to build up some cash cash flow.
Next, he needs to go into damage control from the Thompson scandal, and tie up the loose ends from the current Facebook lawsuit over patent infringement. Finally, he needs to win back his former media buyers and focus on making advertising and brands a key financial component of the Yahoo business model.
My guess would be, if Levinsohn can accomplish any of this in the short term, he will be the permanent CEO at Yahoo. Can he actually get it done? Nobody knows. Yahoo isn’t in a real great position right now, so any headway would be an improvement. We’ll keep you updated.