This article was published on May 21, 2012

After being ousted from Yahoo, Scott Thompson resigns from Splunk board


After being ousted from Yahoo, Scott Thompson resigns from Splunk board

As you probably know, former PayPal president Scott Thompson was recently forced out of Yahoo, mere months after joining the beleaguered Internet company as chief executive officer. Now he’s also losing board seats left and right.

Thompson had misstated his credentials in regulatory filings and other places, claiming he had a computer science degree from Stonehill College in Massachusetts on his résumé, while in fact he only had an accounting degree.

He was swiftly removed from Yahoo’s board and management after word got out about the inaccuracies (creating a massive crisis for the company). For more context, read this The New York Times’ article on Thompson’s ‘undoing’.

Former Yahoo EVP Ross Levinsohn has since taken over as interim CEO.

Meanwhile, Thompson has taken yet another ‘career hit’, as he is no longer a board member of Splunk, a provider of ‘big data’ analysis software since last week.

Splunk released the following brief statement earlier this morning:

Scott Thompson Resigns From Board of Directors of Splunk Inc.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA–(Marketwire – May 21, 2012) – Splunk® Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK), the leading provider of software for real-time operational intelligence, today announced that Scott Thompson has resigned from its board of directors, effective May 18, 2012.

Splunk Chairman and CEO Godfrey Sullivan stated, “On behalf of the company’s management and board of directors, we thank Mr. Thompson for his contributions to the company. In regard to recent health issues, we wish Scott all the best for a fast and full recovery.”

The appointment of Thompson’s successor will be announced at a later date.

Thompson was recently diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

Ironically, the Wall Street Journal just last week published an article entitled ‘After Yahoo, Thompson Still Has Splunk’. In the article, Splunk’s Director of Investor Relations, Ken Tinsley, was quoted as saying: “he’s a valued member of the board.”

Not anymore he isn’t.

Thompson also had a seat on the board of directors of another public tech company, F5 Networks, but also resigned from that position last week.

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