No deep thoughts needed to figure out what happened here: Photobucket co-founders Alex Welch and Darren Crystal are leaving Fox Interactive Media (NYSE: NWS) following the end of their two-year earnout. The News Corp unit bought the photo-sharing site in July 2007 for $250 million in cash plus performance-related payments of up to $50 million. (They told staff late last week but, unusually, it managed to stay under wraps until today on TechCrunch.) Welch is staying on as CEO through a transition; no word yet on who will replace him or departing CTO Crystal. Despite speculation—and maybe some wishful thinking—that it could be folded in to MySpace, I’m told this won’t affect Photobucket’s standalone status within FIM.

The news comes just a month after the Photobucket staff was cut by roughly one-third to about 80 as part of FIM’s layoffs to cut expenses. 

• More Layoffs At FIM; Includes One-Third Of Photobucket Staff
• Photobucket’s Sale To Fox: How VC Insiders Made Big Personal Returns
• MySpace Acquiring Photobucket; Pricing Around $250 Million
• 10-Q Watch: News Corp: Photobucket Acquisition Price: $300 Million