Scott Thompson, who lost his job as chief executive of Yahoo earlier this year when it was discovered he hadn’t earned the computer science degree on his resume, has resurfaced at the helm of a new startup.
The San Jose Mercury News interviewed Thompson about his new role as the CEO of e-commerce service ShopRunner. The company offers Amazon-like shipping services and Thompson described it as “Amazon Prime for everybody else.” Amazon Prime offers free two-day shipping for users who pay a $79 annual membership fee.
Conshohocken, Pa.-based ShopRunner is two years old and has 60 employees. Thompson told the Merc, he was fascinated by the challenge of growing the company into something big. eBay, owner of PalPal, which Thompson used to run, owns a stake in ShopRunner. An eBay executive sits on the company’s board.
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“It’s safe to say that I’ve known the companies and the individuals involved for a long time,” Thompson said. “The concept that became ShopRunner I saw early on, three-plus years ago.”
Thompson didn’t receive severance from Yahoo, but he did get $7 million in “walking-away money,” according to the Merc. So he could have just retired. Thompson and a quarter of ShopRunner’s employees work out of an office in San Mateo, Calif.
In three years at PayPal, Thompson helped double revenues to more than $4 billion.
“His set of experiences is second to none,” Eric Remer, CEO of Denver startup PaySimple, which named Thompson to its board last month, told the Merc. “The opportunity to bring on a talent like Scott is an absolute no-brainer.”
Thompson wouldn’t discuss Yahoo, which negotiated a non-disparagement clause with him.
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