Marissa Mayer Allegedly Rejected Actress Gwyneth Paltrow Over Lack Of College Degree

  • 10 years ago
Yahoo's CEO Marissa Mayer refused to hire the Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow as a contributing editor for Yahoo Food because she lacks a college degree.

Apparently a Hollywood pedigree isn't enough to get a job without also having a college education.

That was the case for Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow. The star was in talks to become a contributing editor to Yahoo Food, but Yahoo's CEO Marissa Mayer reportedly refused to hire her.

Mayer's reason was that Paltrow never completed her college education. According to a New York Times article, Mayer reportedly asks deputies where they attended college, and a graduate degree is considered especially important.

Paltrow briefly attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, but left her studies to pursue an acting career with such films as "Emma," "Sliding Doors" and "Shakespeare in Love," which earned her the 1999 Academy Award for Best Actress.

Along with acting, Paltrow has penned numerous best-selling cookbooks, while also running popular lifestyle blog, GOOP.

Mayer's decision to not hire Paltrow has been met with criticism, citing that other internet moguls, such as Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs, never finished college either.

Paltrow's courtship with Yahoo was part of Mayer's current plan of creating new video content and digital magazines for the website.