Yahoo tipped to name PayPal boss as new chief

The Dow Jones-owned tech news title has cited sources close to the company and reported that PayPal's president Scott Thompson is in line for the chief executive role, with an announcement due as early as this afternoon (GMT).

Thompson joined the payments company PayPal in 2005 as senior vice president and chief technology officer, before being promoted to president of the company in 2008.

During his time as President, PayPal's rapid expansion has been closely tethered to eBay's overall growth.

Prior to PayPal Thompson held senior technology positions at Inovat, a subsidiary of payments company Visa, and Barclays Global Investors.

Yahoo is currently undergoing a strategic review, after the high-profile sacking of chief executive Carol Bartz in September last year.

The expected announcement comes amid takeover speculation, with the likes of Alibaba, Microsoft, Google, and Silver Lake all reported to have expressed an interest in buying Yahoo.

In its most recent financial results, Yahoo reported a 25% drop in profits year-on-year to $298m for the third quarter of 2011.

Yahoo underwent a sales restructure in the UK last year, with the aim to deliver more creative opportunities for advertisers.

Yahoo declined to comment.

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This article was first published on mediaweek.co.uk