Ousted Yahoo Chief Lands New CEO Role
Two Months After Resigning Over a Resume Discrepancy, Scott Thompson Gets New Chance at Web Start-Up ShopRunner
By AMIR EFRATI And GREG BENSINGER
Departing under a cloud doesn't seem to hold back some technology executives.
Two months after resigning as CEO of Yahoo Inc. YHOO -0.97% following a flap over his misstated academic credentials, Scott Thompson on Monday was appointed the CEO of ShopRunner Inc., a high-profile online-shopping start-up based in Philadelphia.
With the appointment, the 54-year-old Mr. Thompson, who had been at Yahoo for just five months before stepping down, is returning to his online commerce roots. Previous to the Yahoo job, he was president at eBay Inc.'s EBAY -1.36% PayPal unit, which helps people pay for online goods. He served on ShopRunner's board of directors before being hired by Yahoo in January of this year.
Before he resigned from Yahoo, Mr. Thompson told board members he had been diagnosed with a form of thyroid cancer and was receiving treatments, people with knowledge of the matter have said. But in recent weeks Mr. Thompson was given a clean bill of health, according to two people who have spoken to him.
A ShopRunner spokeswoman said Mr. Thompson wouldn't speak to reporters about the announcement, and he didn't respond to a request for comment. In a statement, however, Mr. Thompson said "joining ShopRunner is a tremendous opportunity to build on the strong foundation that the company has already established."
He isn't the only prominent Silicon Valley executive to rebound quickly after a spate of negative publicity. Mark Hurd was hired in mid-2010 as co-president of Oracle Corp. ORCL -1.54% soon after resigning as chief executive of computer giant Hewlett Packard Co., HPQ -1.64% in the wake of disclosures about a relationship with a female contractor.
Mr. Thompson resigned from Yahoo in May after the company's board obtained evidence that contradicted his claim of innocence about his misstated academic record, people with direct knowledge of the matter have said.
ShopRunner's president, Michael Golden, said in an interview that his company held discussions with Mr. Thompson about joining the company over the last couple months, and that it vetted the appointment with its retail partners, who were "universally excited" about him joining.
"I don't believe the facts are necessarily out" about Mr. Thompson's misstated credentials, said ShopRunner's Mr. Golden. "Regardless of what the answer was with Yahoo, Scott was the right person for the job" at ShopRunner, he said.
Michael Rubin, the CEO of Kynetic LLC—a firm that owns about 70% of ShopRunner—said that "Scott was always my No. 1 pick" to run the company, adding that "we have incredible confidence in him."
He said the falling out at Yahoo was "not a concern" and he expected Mr. Thompson to remain with ShopRunner for many years.
For $79 a year, or $8.95 a month, ShopRunner customers can get unlimited two-day delivery from—and free returns to—more than 60 retailers including Toys "R" Us Inc. and American Eagle Outfitters Inc. AEO -0.93% The service was started nearly two years ago as a challenge to Amazon Inc.'s AMZN -1.00% Prime program that offers two-day delivery of goods for $79 a year.
ShopRunner has said its members spent more than $100 million buying goods last year from its retail partners.
Mr. Thompson was previously eBay's representative on ShopRunner's board of directors. EBay holds a roughly 25% stake in ShopRunner, Kynetic's Mr. Rubin said.
"We think it's a great move for Scott and we wish him much success," said Amanda Miller, a spokeswoman for eBay.
The ShopRunner spokeswoman said Mr. Thompson would split his time between Silicon Valley and ShopRunner's headquarters.
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor of management at Yale University and author of the book "Firing Back: How Great Leaders Rebound After Career Disasters," said Mr. Thompson appeared to be "following the basic recipe for recovery" for fallen CEOs—recapturing the kind of "heroic mission" in eCommerce of his days at PayPal.
"This is a land of great comebacks, and while Scott Thompson lost his legitimacy to lead at Yahoo, he's not a felon, he hasn't plundered shareholder wealth, and so he deserves a new beginning," Mr. Sonnenfeld said.
Paul Lapides, a director of the corporate-governance center at Kennesaw State University, said that Mr. Thompson's hiring "shows you that people think he has a lot of talent" and that "everyone makes mistakes."
Some eCommerce executives said Mr. Thompson's appointment made sense. Siva Kumar, chief executive of TheFind Inc., a shopping-search engine that at one time powered Shop Runner's website, said Mr. Thompson "has a lot of skills in this area…and it's a small company so he doesn't have to deal with politics and territorial issues."
He added: "For being a shotgun marriage" between a tainted executive who is in need of a job and a start-up in need of someone who could make it successful, "it's a good one."
Write to Amir Efrati at amir.efrati@wsj.com and Greg Bensinger at greg.bensinger@wsj.com
