Marissa Mayer got the job as Yahoo's new CEO because Scott Thompson lost his. Thompson left amid inaccuracies in his official biography. Here are some key developments leading to his departure in May and her arrival on Tuesday:
— May 3: Yahoo Inc. confirms that CEO Scott Thompson has only an accounting degree from Stonehill College near Boston, and no degree in computer science. The inaccuracy had appeared on his company bio and in regulatory filings.
Yahoo also says director Patti Hart holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Illinois State University, with specialties in marketing and economics — not the degree in marketing and economics mentioned in a recent Yahoo regulatory filing. Hart led the committee that recommended Thompson as CEO.
Activist shareholder and hedge fund leader Daniel Loeb at Third Point LLC had revealed the inaccuracies in both bios.
— May 7: Thompson apologizes for the error about his degree, without explanation. He says in an email to employees that he won't resign.
Loeb demands to see internal Yahoo documents about the research Yahoo's board did on Thompson's background before hiring him in January. He wants Yahoo to fire Thompson and Hart to resign.
— May 8: Yahoo says Hart will step down at the company's annual shareholder meeting, which was at the time unscheduled. Hart, CEO of gambling-machine maker International Game Technology, says she wants to focus her energy at IGT. She joined Yahoo's board in June 2010.
— May 10: Thompson assures his colleagues at Yahoo that he didn't supply the incorrect information.
— May 13: Yahoo says Thompson has left the company and Ross Levinsohn, an executive in charge of its media operations, will be interim CEO.
Yahoo also announces new board chairman, Fred Amoroso, has been appointed. The company says Hart, current chairman Roy Bostock and two other board members are leaving and three new board members, including Loeb, will join.
— May 14: The Wall Street Journal reports that Thompson had told the board that he has thyroid cancer. The diagnosis contributed to his decision to step down, according to the newspaper's unidentified sources.
— July 6: Hulu discloses that its CEO, Jason Kilar, has decided not to pursue the top job at Yahoo, leaving Levinsohn as the lead candidate to be permanent CEO.
— July 12: At Yahoo's annual shareholders meeting, Levinsohn talks like someone who expected to be running Yahoo for more than just a few months.
— Monday: Yahoo announces that longtime Google executive Marissa Mayer will be its next CEO.
— Tuesday: Mayer starts her new job.
