[Infowarrior] - MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe Steps Down

[Richard Forno]

It's Official: MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe Steps Down

Michael Arrington
TechCrunch.com
Wednesday, April 22, 2009 4:00 PM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/22/AR2009042203659_pf.html

No more speculation or leaks, it's official. As we wrote yesterday,  
MySpace cofounder Chris DeWolfe will shortly be leaving the company.  
He'll remain on board as a strategic advisor. The press release is  
below.

News Corp. is also signaling that cofounder Tom Anderson is staying on  
board, albeit in a new role - even last night we heard that he was a  
goner.

Whoever the new CEO is, we'll know soon. News Corp. PR is leaking to  
their subsidiary press outlets that Owen Van Natta is the prime  
candidate, but at least a couple of other people are still supposedly  
in the running. If Van Natta, a former Facebook exec, takes over, the  
investors that backed him at Playlist are going to want an  
explanation. He took over the CEO role there less than six months ago.

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.?
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