Yahoo row: CEO never provided his resume

San Francisco Yahoo Inc chief executive Scott Thompson, at the centre of a row over his educational qualifications, told his top executives on Thursday he never provided a resume or incorrect information to Yahoo, a source familiar with the situation said.

Thompson held a meeting with senior staff to address the controversy that erupted a week ago, and has caused turmoil at the struggling internet company and raised questions about his future as CEO.

Regulatory filings

Yahoo acknowledged last week that Thompson, the former president of eBay Inc division PayPal, does not have a computer science degree, despite what was stated in his official company biography and in regulatory filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Thompson sent an e-mail to Yahoo employees last week apologising for the controversy, and saying he hoped a Yahoo board review of the matter would be concluded promptly.

In the meeting on Thursday, Thompson gave an account of the facts as he understood them, the source said, and provided executives with an opportunity to ask questions.

Thompson's official biography at Paypal also listed the inaccurate education details, and it was unclear how Yahoo obtained the information on his educational record when it employed him.

Keith Giarman, who heads recruiting of top executives for venture capital and private equity firms at executive search firm DHR International, said high-level executives don't usually directly provide their resume to potential employers.

Dossier on candidate

Typically, he said, a recruiting firm will compile a dossier about their client, which would include the client's resume and the firm's assessment of the candidate, and send it directly to companies.

Yahoo declined to comment on which executive search firm it used during its CEO search. According to past media reports, Yahoo used Heidrick & Struggles for its CEO search, but the firm did not present Thompson as a CEO candidate to Yahoo due to a conflict resulting from its work placing Thompson at PayPal.