It’s Official: DeWolfe Out as MySpace CEO; Co-Founder Tom Anderson Also Moving Aside
by Peter Kafka
Posted on April 22, 2009 at 4:34 PM PT
As All Things Digital reported earlier today, MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe is stepping down from his post, but will stay on board as a “strategic advisor” to the company.
MySpace owner News Corp. (NWS) didn’t name a successor to DeWolfe, but sources said the company is close to bringing in Owen Van Natta, the former COO at Facebook and current CEO of Project Playlist, as a replacement.
(News Corp. also owns Dow Jones, which owns this Web site.)
In addition, News Corp. said that it is in talks to move aside Tom Anderson, DeWolfe’s longtime partner and MySpace co-founder, from his current position as president.
Here’s the memo:
Chris DeWolfe to Step Down as CEO of MySpace
Will serve as strategic advisor to Company
______________________Los Angeles, CA, April 22, 2009 – MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe and News Corporation’s Chief Digital Officer Jonathan Miller, announced today that, by mutual agreement, Mr. DeWolfe will not be renewing his contract and will be stepping down in the near future. Mr. DeWolfe will continue to serve on the board of MySpace China and will be a strategic advisor to the Company.
Additionally, Mr. Miller announced that he was in discussions with Tom Anderson, MySpace’s president, about Mr. Anderson assuming a new role in the organization.
“Chris and Tom are true pioneers and we greatly value the tremendous job they’ve done in growing MySpace into what it is today,” said Mr. Miller. “Thanks largely to their vision, MySpace has become a vibrant creative community with 130 million passionate followers worldwide. It is an enormously successful property and we look forward to building on its achievements with a new management structure we’ll announce in the near future.”
“In a little under six years we’ve grown MySpace from a small operation with seven people to a very profitable business with over 1,600 employees,” said Mr. DeWolfe. “It’s been one of the best experiences of my life and we’re proud of, and grateful to, the team of talented people who helped us along the way. We thank them, as well as the MySpace community for making our vision a reality.”
“From the very beginning, our driving passion has been simple – to create and foster a platform where people across the globe can not only meet and interact, but share music, videos, thoughts and ideas,” said Mr. Anderson. I look forward to working with Jon. I love this business, and look forward to its next chapter.”
Comments
But Tom was my only friend! Whatever will I do?
Posted by Mac Beach at April 22nd, 2009 at 6:32 pm