Pictures

Photo

Reuters Photojournalism

Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography.  See more | Photo caption 

Photo

Devastated by Tornado

A huge tornado tears through an Oklahoma City suburb.  Slideshow 

Photo

Message of humility

A religious fraternity in Rio considers the election of Pope Francis, a confirmation of their beliefs in poverty and simplicity.  Slideshow 

Sponsored Links

MySpace CEO steps down

Related Topics

Owen Van Natta, Chief Executive Officer of MySpace.com, attends a session at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos January 27, 2010. REUTERS/Michael Buholzer

Owen Van Natta, Chief Executive Officer of MySpace.com, attends a session at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos January 27, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Michael Buholzer

SAN FRANCISCO | Thu Feb 11, 2010 6:38am EST

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - News Corp has replaced the CEO of the social networking site MySpace less than a year after hiring him, and said a discussion of his priorities led both sides to agree to a parting.

Owen Van Natta, whose resignation is effective immediately, will be replaced by Mike Jones and Jason Hirschhorn as co-presidents, News Corp said on Wednesday.

Van Natta could not be reached immediately for comment.

News Corp acquired MySpace in 2005 for $580 million. Since the acquisition, the Internet site has lost ground to rival Facebook, which now ranks as the world's No.1 social network with roughly 400 million active users.

News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch replaced MySpace co-founder Chris DeWolfe with Van Natta last year, betting that the former No. 2 executive at rival Facebook could freshen up the company.

But rekindling MySpace's popularity in the fast-changing Internet world has proven challenging. And analysts have expressed doubt that MySpace will be able to renew its $300-million-a-year search advertising deal with Google Inc on similarly lucrative terms when the deal expires this year.

News Corp said in its quarterly earnings call last week that advertising and search revenue declined at MySpace and that it was taking longer than expected to achieve revenue goals at MySpace.

"Owen took on an incredible challenge in working to refocus and revitalize MySpace, and the business has shown very positive signs recently as a result of his dedicated work," said News Corp Digital Media CEO Jon Miller

"However, in talking to Owen about his priorities both personally and professionally going forward, we both agreed that it was best for him to step down at this time. I want to thank Owen for all of his efforts."

Jones and Hirschhorn both also joined MySpace in April 2009 with Van Natta.

(Additional reporting by Peter Henderson; editing by Carol Bishopric, Gary Hill)
Tech
Media
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (3)
xpaddy01 wrote:
I wonder if a year was really enough.

Feb 11, 2010 10:11am EST  --  Report as abuse
ablaut wrote:
With the introduction of Google Buzz, I doubt Google has much interest in dealing with MySpace. I say, “let it die.”

Feb 11, 2010 1:50pm EST  --  Report as abuse
jackiecox wrote:
facebook should distance itself from microsoft and its packy programmers, shake off gates/buffet criminals

Feb 12, 2010 3:00am EST  --  Report as abuse
This discussion is now closed. We welcome comments on our articles for a limited period after their publication.
See All Comments »