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CEO who led hunt for new Yahoo boss steps down from board

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By Noel Young, Correspondent

May 9, 2012 | 2 min read

Patti Hart, the Yahoo director who headed the board search committee that picked Scott Thompson as the company’s chief executive - without noticing that his degree was not as advertised - will not stand for re-election.

Patti Hart: "victim" of Yahoo furore

This was announced late on Tuesday. The New York Times described it as "the first significant response by Yahoo amid controversy over misstatements about Mr. Thompson’s academic record."

Yahoo thanked Patti "for her years of service" and said she had asked to leave the board at the request of International Game Technology, where she is chief executive.

Yahoo has formed a three-member board committee to investigate CEO Thompson’s hiring and how erroneous academic information appeared in official company documents and on its website.

The three - Alfred Amoroso,Thomas McInerney and John Hayes - all joined the board in the last three months.

Before last Thursday, Thompson’s biography said he had earned both accounting and computer science degrees at Stonehill College in Massachusetts. After questions by the hedge fund Third Point- Yahoo's biggest outside shareholder - Yahoo conceded that Thompson had only an accounting degree.

Ms. Hart has been heavily scrutinised for her role in leading the search committee. Her own bio said she had a degree in marketing and economics - when it was in business administration. The SanJose Mercury News said she was "the first victim" of the Yahoo furore.

On Monday, Third Point demanded Yahoo’s records related to the search that led to Thompson’s hiring. Yahoo chief Thompson has e-mailed employees apologising for the controversy .

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