Yahoo nears decision on chief Yahoo's search for a new chief executive is entering its final days as the board plans to install a successor to Scott Thompson, who left under a cloud in May, ahead of next Thursday's shareholder meeting. With the appointment of a permanent chief, Yahoo's board will seek to end a turbulent period for the company that has seen intense shareholder activism and the departure of two chief executives in less than nine months. The board is considering giving Ross Levinsohn, interim chief executive since Mr Thompson's departure in May and head of Yahoo's media business, the permanent post. But according to one person familiar with the situation, Jason Kilar, currently head of Hulu, the internet TV and film service, is also in the running for the job. Yahoo's board will meet next Thursday before the company's annual shareholder meeting with the intention of confirming a final decision. A spokesman for Yahoo's board declined to comment, as did a Hulu spokeswoman. Mr Kilar did not respond to a request for comment. Mr Levinsohn is believed to be in a strong position to win the race, as the board seeks to minimise further disruption following Mr Thompson's abrupt resignation after fewer than five months in the role. Dissident investor Third Point triggered the exit when it discovered that Mr Thompson did not have the computer science degree he had claimed in his resume. A former executive at Fox Interactive Media, News Corp's digital division, Mr Levinsohn has won praise for recruiting Michael Barrett, an online advertising veteran and former chief of Admeld, which was acquired by Google last year, as Yahoo's chief revenue officer. Mr Kilar has successfully driven Hulu to more than 2m subscribers for its online video platform, which is jointly owned by media groups Walt Disney, News Corp and NBC Universal, and Providence Equity Partners. While the digital start-up has been a rare success story for its traditional media backers, Providence pushed for a sale or public offering, which ultimately failed to attract sufficient interest. Mr Kilar exposed tensions between Hulu's management and investors last year when he wrote a blog post saying that "traditional TV has too many ads," prompting one shareholder at the time to suggest he was "obviously disconnected from how the majority of America watches television."