Yahoo appoints interim CEO following Thompson's departure

CEO of ailing internet giant leaves company having exaggerated his education on his CV

Ailing internet giant Yahoo has appointed its global media head Ross Levinsohn as interim CEO following the departure of former CEO Scott Thompson (pictured).

Yahoo stated that former Paypal CEO Thompson had "left the company" in a press release. Thompson was recently found to have exaggerated his education history on his CV, wrongly claiming to have a computer science degree.

Thompson took over as CEO of the firm in January this year, and immediately announced a swathe of staffing cuts in a bid to reduce costs.

At the time, Thompson was bullish over his firm's prospects.

"Today's actions are an important step towards a bold, new Yahoo – smaller, nimbler, more profitable and better equipped to innovate as fast as our customers and our industry require," Thompson said in April this year.

"Our goal is to get back to our core purpose: putting our users and advertisers first. And we are moving aggressively to achieve that goal," he added.

Yahoo has struggled in recent years with falling revenues, as its competitors, which include Google, Facebook and Twitter, have become increasingly dominant in its market.

The firm now begins the search for a permanent CEO who will be tasked with leading it out of decline.