Yahoo close to naming new CEO; PayPal's Scott Thompson in race

Internet giant Yahoo Inc is set to name its new chief and the possible names doing the rounds include Scott Thompson, who runs eBay's online payment unit PayPal, as per a media report.

The company had sacked Carol Bartz as its CEO in September 2011. Since then, Yahoo is being run by its board and interim CEO Tim Morse, who has previously been its CFO. "Yahoo is poised to name a CEO, an announcement that could come as early as tomorrow morning," technology website AllThingsD reported citing an unnamed source.

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The report said that Scott Thompson, President of internet shopping and auction major eBay's online payments unit PayPal was likely to get the nod for the next Yahoo CEO. "Leading candidate likely to get the nod is...PayPal President Scott Thompson, who runs eBay's massive online payments unit," the report added.

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Thompson became president of PayPal in early 2008, after serving as its CTO (Chief Technology Officer) in charge of information technology, product development and architecture. Before eBay, he worked at Inovant, a subsidiary of Visa formed to oversee global technology for the organisation. He was also CIO of Barclays Global Investors and has worked at Coopers and Lybrand on information technology.

After Bartz's ouster, Yahoo had said it was looking at a range of strategic options, including the possible sale of all or part of the company.

At the same time, Yahoo had also hired Heidrick & Struggles to look for a new CEO.

PTI