Former Yahoo CEO Lands at ShopRunner

Scott Thompson, the former Yahoo CEO and PayPal President, has been named CEO at 2-year-old online fulfillment services provider ShopRunner.

“Joining ShopRunner is a tremendous opportunity to build on the strong foundation that the company has already established,” Thompson said in a statement. “While PayPal and ShopRunner are fundamentally different businesses, there are similarities in each of their success.”

The 54-year-old Thompson left Yahoo in May after just four months on the job amid allegations that he tweaked his resume to say he held a dual degree in accounting and computer science. Thompson has a degree only in accounting. ShopRunner declined comment about Thompson’s time at Yahoo.

ShopRunner launched just 22 months ago and has built a network of retailers and services for consumers. ShopRunner plans to expand its offerings, both in its breadth of participating merchants, and its benefits to members, including PayRunner, a two-click checkout experience that makes it fast and convenient for ShopRunner members to purchase, and ShopRunner PickupPoints – a service that gives members the option to have packages delivered to thousands of convenient retail store locations.

“Joining ShopRunner is a tremendous opportunity to build on the strong foundation that the company has already established,” Thompson said in a statement. “While PayPal and ShopRunner are fundamentally different businesses, there are similarities in each of their success. Both companies are focused on building the broadest network of satisfied merchants by providing the value that creates a large and loyal customer community, creating a virtuous circle.”

ShopRunner partners with more than 60 online retailers. For a monthly fee, ShopRunner subscribers can get free two-day shipping and discounts to a list of stores that includes companies such as Toys R Us and PetSmart.

According to published reports it appears that Thompson’s new helm is a step down from his Yahoo and PayPal days.

ShopRunner President Mike Golden, who is remaining at the company, said in a memo to employees that since he and Michael Rubin formed ShopRunner hiring the right long-term CEO has always been the plan.

“At this stage of our development we are more excited than we have ever been about the future of our partnership and now is the absolute best time for us to put that person in place. The fact that we have been able to attract Scott in this role is great validation of the foundation we have built and the big opportunity that stands before us all.”

Golden added that Thompson turned PayPal into a “massive force” as the company grew its user base from 50 million to 104 million active users across 190 countries and had over 8 million merchant partners in its network. Prior to being named president, Thompson also held positions as PayPal’s senior vice president and chief technology officer, overseeing information technology, product development, and PayPal’s architecture.

“If we only achieve a fraction of PayPal’s success, we will be hitting a grand slam for all of our members and our retail partners,” Golden said. “Scott’s passion, enthusiasm, work ethic, and management skills will take ShopRunner very quickly to the next level. He brings to the company a ton of learning from what has worked and not worked in a very similar business along with incredible industry relationships.

Jim Tierney ([email protected]) is a senior writer for Multichannel Merchant. You can connect with him on Twitter (TierneyMCM) and LinkedIn, or call him at 203-358-4265.