Before leaving Yahoo, 54-year-old ousted CEO Scott Thompson told the company’s board he had thyroid cancer as controversy swirled around his résumé. Thompson’s decision to step down from the top job at the company was influenced by the diagnosis, according to sources close to the matter. The former chief executive’s academic record listed him as having a computer-science degree, which he did not have—the error was repeated in a Yahoo regulatory filing and on company websites. According to The Wall Street Journal, the source said Thompson’s decision to leave the company was in part influenced by his cancer diagnosis, which reportedly occurred not long before his resignation.
