Yahoo CEO might have lied about having CS degree • Hacker News Board

Re: Yahoo CEO might have lied about having CS degree

#131

Post by mikescar » Fri, May 04, 2012, 1:25 AM UTC

pbreit wrote: post #126

There do appear to be some precedents: http://msn.careerbuilder.com/Article/MSN-1154-Cover-Letters-... But they don't necessarily support a resignation or firing. Thompson's other problem is that he has not made any friends (and for the wrong reasons)(patents, rebuffing Loeb, plan-less layoffs).

> But they don't necessarily support a resignation or firing. Thompson's other problem is that he has not made any friends (and for the wrong reasons)(patents, rebuffing Loeb, plan-less layoffs).

In my view (as a Yahoo shareholder and until tomorrow an employee), it's just another distraction that Yahoos don't need. So many great people being sandbagged by issues out their control or knowledge.

Particularly during a time when Thompson really needs to move Yahoo past the "will-they-or-won't-they" period that preceded layoffs by a month, and which still persists a month after the big 're-org' announcement.

Though I guess this is just kind of what happens when you play hardball on this big a stage.

Re: Yahoo CEO might have lied about having CS degree

#132

Post by newbie12 » Fri, May 04, 2012, 1:28 AM UTC

tomkarlo wrote: post #39

jrockway wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lying on SEC filings should get you imprisoned. This costs me a lot of money, and I don't want to give free money to people just because they are dishonest. Ban the guy from being the CEO or a board member of a publicly traded company for 10 years. Inexpensive and an appropriate punishment for the crime. Let's reserve prison for people that absolutely cannot integrate with normal society.

All you'll be doing then is turning him into a high-priced industry consultant or public speaker. Not that prison always prevents that (See: Michael Milken) but it at least puts the brakes on it for a few years.

Milken is an interesting case. He literally created the market for high yield ("junk") bonds, and a lot of the charges the feds threw at him were because creating a new market meant breaking stupid regulations about yields and such.

Re: Yahoo CEO might have lied about having CS degree

#133

Post by jusben1369 » Fri, May 04, 2012, 1:29 AM UTC

What I love about these lies - if this one in particular is indeed a lie - is it's a textbook exmample of why you don't lie. Everyone fixates now he's a CEO. However, he probably introduced that little "stretch" when he was a relative nobody. So you put it on there, get your first "Snr Manager" job. Then you get promoted to "Director" and someone says "Yeah, give it to Frank. He can talk to the business people and the engineer's because he has a Comp Sci degree - that's right right Frank?" "Yep, that's right" Just keeps snowballing. Fast forward 20 years and you're CEO of a large public company and they're crawling all over you. I think may of the the embellisher's started when they were relatively unknown and it's hard to get off the train.

Re: Yahoo CEO might have lied about having CS degree

#134

Post by [deleted] » Fri, May 04, 2012, 1:30 AM UTC

seanp2k2 wrote: post #87

fleitz wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"It "gave us confidence," says Maj. Gen. Thomas L. Wilkerson, former commander of the Marine Corps Reserve, who increased purchases of Lotus Notes after meeting Papows. "Jeff was a Phantom driver just like me."" This is exactly why people lie, because it doesn't matter how well your software works, what matters is that the people buying it feel like you're on the same team. Whether the CEO is a fighter pilot or not s…

Another thing too: what does it matter if you lie about the degree if /you can do the work/ ? Sure, it's unethical and I'm pretty sure it's illegal to lie outright about stuff like that to potential employers / boards, but again, if you come out and say "hey, I lied about this, but judge me on my output and not on my credentials"...that's gotta be worth something. That said, Yahoo isn't doing great, and I'm sure peop…

[deleted]

Re: Yahoo CEO might have lied about having CS degree

#135

Post by newbie12 » Fri, May 04, 2012, 1:37 AM UTC

ditojim wrote: post #123

eli_gottlieb wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quality CEO's my ass. Salaries for CEOs are high because they work like the mob's "cleaners" a lot of the time, and because they come from an exclusive club who all hire each other.

or because it is a very difficult, high stress job that very few people can actually handle?

One reason CEOs are well-paid is so that all of the middle managers will strive harder in hopes of having the job someday. Another is that our corporate governance/capital markets aren't that competitive and lousy managers can insulate themselves from market discipline.

Re: Yahoo CEO might have lied about having CS degree

#136

Post by epynonymous » Fri, May 04, 2012, 1:41 AM UTC

mikeash wrote: post #128

seanp2k2 wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another thing too: what does it matter if you lie about the degree if /you can do the work/ ? Sure, it's unethical and I'm pretty sure it's illegal to lie outright about stuff like that to potential employers / boards, but again, if you come out and say "hey, I lied about this, but judge me on my output and not on my credentials"...that's gotta be worth something. That said, Yahoo isn't doing great, and I'm sure peop…

I'm happy to judge somebody on their output and not their credentials. But when their output includes lying about their credentials, I'm definitely going to judge them on that as well.

maybe the ability to lie is a core value of becoming a ceo :)

Re: Yahoo CEO might have lied about having CS degree

#137

Post by Duff » Fri, May 04, 2012, 1:41 AM UTC

sliverstorm wrote: post #40

tomkarlo wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, the head of admissions at MIT: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-04-26-mit-admiss... No question she was good at her job, but it's a real problem when you're in charge of any kind of hiring to ask your applicants to be honest if you're not honest yourself.

Maybe it isn't a problem, but actually something that makes her good at her job? I'd trust a long-time liar to recognize other liars better than an honest person, any day.

Lying on a resume doesn't require any inordinate skill -- just loose ethical standards.

Re: Yahoo CEO might have lied about having CS degree

#138

Post by Duff » Fri, May 04, 2012, 1:45 AM UTC

oijaf888 wrote: post #75

Angostura wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cutting him some slack, its possible that his accounting degree had a significant computing component and he decided to bring this significant aspect out. My degree is in Biological Sciences, but in my third year I specialised almost entirely in molecular biology. Informally I'm sure I've said 'I did molecular biology at university' - although on my CV I've always listed Biological Sciences.

Except it says that at the time he attended the college, they only offered 1 degree in computers, "Intro to Computer Sciences" and didn't start offering computer science degrees for another 4 years.

Not necessarily indicative of anything -- maybe he spent his time working on the dats processing system sued by the accounting and finance departments.

Re: Yahoo CEO might have lied about having CS degree

#139

Post by harshreality » Fri, May 04, 2012, 1:53 AM UTC

epynonymous wrote: post #136

mikeash wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm happy to judge somebody on their output and not their credentials. But when their output includes lying about their credentials, I'm definitely going to judge them on that as well.

maybe the ability to lie is a core value of becoming a ceo :)

Being able to lie and not get caught might be a core value in the psychopath model of corporate leadership. Getting caught in a lie makes one a poorly qualified psychopath.

Re: Yahoo CEO might have lied about having CS degree

#140

Post by MaysonL » Fri, May 04, 2012, 2:31 AM UTC

vijayr wrote: post #47

sliverstorm wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it isn't a problem, but actually something that makes her good at her job? I'd trust a long-time liar to recognize other liars better than an honest person, any day.

by that logic, may be we should hire ex-cons for law enforcement? they'd probably make better cops than 'normal' people?

See White Collar Fraud: http://whitecollarfraud.blogspot.com

From the author's disclosure:

"I am a convicted felon and a former CPA. As the criminal CFO of Crazy Eddie, I helped my cousin Eddie Antar and other members of his family mastermind one of the largest securities frauds uncovered during the 1980's. I committed my crimes in cold-blood for fun and profit, and simply because I could. If it weren't for the heroic efforts of the FBI, SEC, Postal Inspector's Office, US Attorney's Office, and class action plaintiff's lawyers who investigated, prosecuted, and sued me, I would still be the criminal CFO of Crazy Eddie today."