In a recent example of the need for businesses to conduct education verifications during background checks, the newly hired Chief Executive Officer of Yahoo!, Scott Thompson, was found to have discrepancies in his educational record after a letter from Third Point LLC, owners of close to 6 percent of Yahoo! shares, pointed out that while numerous biographies and securities filings claimed Thompson held a Bachelor’s degree in accounting and computer science, a “rudimentary Google search” revealed that his degree was in accounting only.  The letter is available here: Third Point letter to Yahoo! (UPDATE: Yahoo! Board of Directors Forms Special Committee to Review CEO Academic Credentials). (more…)

By Thomas Ahearn, ESR News Staff Writer

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal on WSJ.com, insurance conglomerate Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. has agreed to sell its corporate-intelligence unit Kroll to global security firm Altegrity Inc. for $1.13 billion.

Altegrity started in 1996 as U.S. Investigations Services (U.S.I.S.) when the government privatized the business of security clearance background investigations, WSJ.com reports, and in 2007 Providence acquired the company for $1.5 billion and renamed it Altegrity. Altegirty also owns another screening firm called HireRight, according to a story on DailyFinance.com. 

In 2004, Marsh & McLennan paid $1.9 billion in cash for Kroll, a company that helped pioneer the corporate investigations and security business, but WSJ.com reports that the insurer has sold off smaller pieces of Kroll recently to focus on its insurance and consulting businesses, with the sale to Altegrity completing the divestiture.

Altegrity, a company that performs U.S. government employee background checks and consults foreign governments on counterinsurgency techniques, is owned by private-equity firm Providence Equity Partners, according to WSJ.com. 

For more information on employment screening and background checks, visit Employment Screening Resources (ESR) at http://www.esrcheck.com.

Sources:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703303904575292322037231554.html

http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/investing/kroll-mmc-altegrity/19506027/