Yahoo!'s former CEO diagnosed with cancer

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SUNNYVALE, Calif., May 14 (UPI) -- U.S. search engine firm Yahoo! Inc. announced a board shake-up following discovery its chief executive officer's resume was falsified.

The company did not mention its former CEO Scott Thompson's health. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday sources said Thompson had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

The diagnosis had just been discovered "in recent days," the Journal reported.

The scandal erupted May 4 when activist investor Daniel Loeb, a founder of Third Point, revealed it had checked Thompson's posted resume, which included a college degree in computer science he had never received.

Yahoo! said Sunday Thompson had already left the company. He was replaced by Ross Levinsohn on an interim basis. Non-executive Chairman Roy Bostock had also stepped down, replaced by Fred Amoroso, the company said.

Bostock left to facilitate a smoother transition period, as the company also reached an agreement with Third Point, which had been lobbying to have four hand-picked candidates, including Loeb, placed on the board.

Yahoo! agreed to have three of Third Point's candidates take seats on the board. Concurrently, five board members who had already decided not to seek re-election at the company's next shareholder meeting agreed to step down effective immediately.

Thompson had spent a week doing damage control, sending an apologetic memo to employees for the distraction but it did not save his job.