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Yahoo: CEO exits after résumé flap

Scott Thompson resigned as CEO of beleaguered Internet giant Yahoo this week after trying to play “the blame game” for embellishments to his résumé, said Amir Efrati and Joann S. Lublin in The Wall Street Journal. Thompson told senior Yahoo executives that an executive-search firm may have added a non-existent computer science degree to his official biography years ago and that he never caught the mistake. The search firm refuted that claim, causing Thompson’s excuse to backfire with the board, whose support for Thompson was already dwindling. “The cover-up became worse than the crime,” said a person familiar with the deliberations.

Now the company’s interim leader, Ross Levinsohn, faces the devilish challenge of fixing “one of Silicon Valley’s most crisis-plagued companies,” said Michael J. de la Merced in The New York Times. Thompson was Yahoo’s fourth CEO in five years, evidence that the company has long struggled to develop a coherent identity and strategy as newer competitors have surged. The ascent of Levinsohn, who has roots in advertising and media, is “likely to please Third Point,” the hedge fund that holds a 5.8 percent stake in Yahoo and pushed for Thompson’s ouster. Third Point wants Yahoo to refocus on advertising to improve revenues.

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Telecom: Lights out for LightSquared

Billionaire Philip Falcone bet his fortune on a company that planned to connect millions of Americans to a new high-speed wireless network, said Tiffany Kary and Michael Bathon in Bloomberg.com. This week, that venture, LightSquared, wound up in bankruptcy court after failing to reach an agreement with creditors. The company had intended to use airwaves previously reserved for satellites to deliver high-speed wireless to consumers. But it suffered a crippling blow in February when U.S. regulators rescinded permission for the network on the grounds that it might interfere with GPS signals.

Apple: Improving factories in China

Apple has agreed to share costs with Foxconn, its largest supplier, to improve conditions at Chinese factories where iPhones and iPads are assembled, said John Ruwitch in Reuters.com. Apple and Foxconn have come under fire in recent months over allegations of forced overtime and unsafe conditions at the factories, but the companies have moved decisively to quell the criticism by stepping up audits of working conditions, increasing pay, and capping workers’ hours. It’s not yet clear if the companies plan to split the improvement costs equally.

Companies: Green Mountain Coffee founder out

The founder of Green Mountain Coffee, the maker of single-serve coffee pods, was stripped of his chairman’s title last week, said Candice Choi in the Associated Press. Robert Stiller, who had borrowed against his Green Mountain stock portfolio, sold 5 million shares of the company for $123 million after a steep drop in the share price triggered a margin call. The company said Stiller’s sale occurred during a blackout period when executives with inside information were prohibited from trading.

Economy: ‘Taxmageddon’ anxiety on the rise

Businesses are already bracing for a “New Year’s budget bomb,” said Lori Montgomery and Rosalind S. Helderman in The Washington Post. Unless Congress acts in the window between the Nov. 6 election and Dec. 31, the Bush-era tax cuts and the payroll-tax holiday will expire at the end of the year, and $1.2 trillion in draconian spending cuts agreed to last summer to spur a budget deal will start kicking in. Economists say that combination will wreak havoc on the still-weak economy. As politicians bicker, defense contractors have already slowed hiring, and hospitals are cutting costs in anticipation of the harrowing deadline.