Former PayPal Pres. Thompson Leaves Yahoo

Former PayPal president Scott Thompson has left Yahoo (YHOO), which he has led as CEO since January.

Yahoo did not give an explicit reason for Thompson's departure in its press release, though Thompson was under scrutiny for misstating his academic credentials. Last week, Yahoo's board said it would form a special committee to review the issue.

Yahoo said Sunday that Ross Levinsohn, an executive vice president and head of global media for Yahoo, has been named interim CEO. Fred Amoroso has been named chairman, replacing non-executive chairman Roy Bostock.

Yahoo also said it has reached a settlement with Third Point LLC, the investor that raised the allegations about whether Thompson earned the computer science degree he claimed to have. Three of Third Point's nominees will join Yahoo’s board on May 16. Third Point owns 5.8% of Yahoo’s common stock, Yahoo said.

Because of Thompson's background with PayPal, a unit of eBay (EBAY), some expected Yahoo under his leadership to take a renewed look at payments as a line of business.