Why Did Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson Resign? Reports Of Cancer Diagnosis Add Twist To Recent Yahoo Events

In the developing story that is the resignation of Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson, details have leaked about what the former CEO disclosed to the company's board of directors and several colleagues before the major announcement.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Thompson revealed to his fellow Yahoo co-workers that he had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the WSJ is reporting that the 54-year-old Thompson made the cancer announcement late last week, just as evidence surfaced that challenged the CEO's claims that he wasn't responsible for an error on his resume.

Ultimately, Thompson's decision to resign as Yahoo CEO was due in part to his cancer diagnosis, according to the WSJ, which continued to cite a person familiar with the matter.

The diagnosis had occurred in recent days, added this person, while the board was investigating why the executive's academic record has erroneously included a computer science degree, the WSJ wrote.

The error in Thompson's resume appeared in a Yahoo regulatory filing, as well as on Yahoo's and other corporate websites.

Yahoo announced on Sunday that Thompson would resign as CEO and would be succeeded by Ross Levinsohn, a senior executive who will be take on the title of Yahoo Interim CEO.

Thompson reportedly told one colleague that he didn't want to publicly discuss the cancer diagnosis because he wanted to keep personal details private, this person said. He told the colleague he is beginning the treatment process for the cancer, this person said, the WSJ wrote.

Thompson's cancer diagnosis is just another twist in the recent news rocking the Sunnyvale, Calif., based company.

The resume irregularities were reportedly revealed by Dan Loeb, activist hedge fund manager of New York-based Third Point.

Loeb quickly bagged up Yahoo shares after former CEO Carol Bertz was fired -- a move that formed a proxy battle to elect himself, former NBC Universal boss Jeff Zucker, hedge fund executive Harry Wilson and Activate CEO Michael J. Wolf to the Yahoo board.

While Loeb, Wilson and Wolf will stay on the Yahoo board, owning as much as 6 percent of the company's shares, Yahoo and Third Point recently confirmed the deal that would end the publicized proxy fight.

The Board is pleased to announce these changes and the settlement with Third Point, and is confident that they will serve the best interests of our shareholders and further accelerate the substantial advances the Company has made operationally and organizationally since last August, Yahoo chairman Fred Amoroso said in a statement.

Yahoo's board of directors had been seeking answers as to how Thompson's resume mistakes were made, and why the error had also been contained in historical press articles about Thompson and on corporate websites that listed his biography. Said websites included that of eBay Inc.'s Pay Pal, according to the WSJ.

After details of the falsities surfaced, Thompson denied the allegations, but was eventually exposed when an executive-search firm that had place Thompson at PayPal told Yahoo's board that it had evidence that challenged Thompson's word.

Thompson's resignation as Yahoo CEO, which included some severance pay, was confirmed on Sunday, May 13.