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Tag Archive: Owen Van Natta

MySpace Lays Off Two-Thirds of International Workforce

MySpace Lays Off Two-Thirds of International Workforce

Social networking giant MySpace has announced its latest belt-tightening moves in an effort to make the company more nimble and improve its bottom line: MySpace will be reducing its international staff by about two thirds—from 450 people to just 150—and plans to close at least four of its offices outside the United States.

According to the company, about half of MySpace’s user base comes from outside the United States. The move comes not even a week after MySpace announced it was cutting 420 positions, or about a third of its total workforce. After the latest round of cuts, MySpace will have about 700 employees.

MySpace Axes 420 Jobs

MySpace Axes 420 Jobs

It’s no secret that MySpace has been losing the social networking site against Facebook. In an attempt to slash costs and regain some momentum, yesterday it axed 420 jobs, or one-third of its workforce.

Last week the speculation was that the cuts would be around the world, but instead, at least so far, they’re in the US. MySpace is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.. In a statement, chief executive Owen Van Natta said:

Former Facebook Exec to Take Over as MySpace CEO

Former Facebook Exec to Take Over as MySpace CEO

Social networking giant MySpace has tapped former FaceBook COO and chief revenue officer Owen Van Natta to take over the CEO position from founder Chris DeWolfe, whose departure was announced just last week.

Van Natta spent three years as FaceBook’s COO and then chief revenue officer, where he helped broker Microsoft’s $240 million investment in Facebook; before that, he worked as a deal-maker at Amazon.com. Van Natta left FaceBook in early 2008 after butting heads with Facebook CEo Mark Zuckerberg, and took the top job at California online music outfit Playlist.com. Van Natta takes over the MySpace top chair effective immediately.

MySpace Co-Founder Chris DeWolfe Stepping Down as CEO

MySpace Co-Founder Chris DeWolfe Stepping Down as CEO

Although my measures still indicate MySpace is the largest social networking site in the United States, it’s no secret that the service has been losing ground to FaceBook, which may still ag behind in the United States but has already surpassed MySpace worldwide in terms of its total usership, and is also experiencing faster growth. Now, MySpace’s parent company News Corp. has announced that "by mutual agreement" MySpace co-founder Chris DeWolfe will not be renewing his contract and will leave the CEO position "in the near future."

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