Miller explained the move to the staff in a late-afternoon memo: “While this may be a surprising turn of events for some of you, I am absolutely confident that this change is best for all parties involved and – most importantly – the MySpace business.” He praised Jones and Hirschhorn each for doing a “great job from both an operational and product perspective.” He also credited Van Natta for his work “to refocus and revitalize the company,” adding, “I believe MySpace is pointed in the right direction and gaining valuable momentum – we added over 1.5 million users and grew significantly in time spent last month – as a result of many of his efforts.” 

Reading the twitter-react, people have some vision of MySpace as a revolving door. Yes, there’s been a lot of movement but at the CEO level there was Chris DeWolfe, and then there was Van Natta. The soap opera of De Wolfe’s departure (Tom Anderson stayed on) followed by Van Natta’s don’t-let-the-door-slam departure obscures the reality that MySpace has only had two CEOs and DeWolfe long outlasted the acquisition by News Corp. (Some thought too long.)  Van Natta left start-up Playlist for MySpace after a brief stay as CEO; before that, he was chief revenue officer and VP- operations for Facebook.

Van Natta had a tough job to accomplish at MySpace even with the best of circumstances. A couple of people I’ve heard from tonight point out that nine months isn’t a long time to turn around a big ship. But I think this is a lot less about what Van Natta did or didn’t do when it comes to fixing MySpace and a lot more about a management structure that didn’t work. A few more months weren’t going to change that and could have made matters worse.

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Miller’s Memo
Everyone,

Today we announced that Owen Van Natta is stepping down as MySpace’s CEO.  Mike Jones and Jason Hirschhorn, who have each done a great job from both an operational and product perspective, are being elevated to co-Presidents and will assume Owen’s responsibilities.  While this may be a surprising turn of events for some of you, I am absolutely confident that this change is best for all parties involved and – most importantly – the MySpace business.  Owen took on an incredible challenge in assuming leadership of MySpace during a difficult period.  He has worked to refocus and revitalize the company, and I believe MySpace is pointed in the right direction and gaining valuable momentum – we added over 1.5 million users and grew significantly in time spent last month – as a result of many of his efforts.  However, in discussing with Owen his priorities for the future both personally and professionally, we both agreed that it was best that he step down at this time.  I am grateful to Owen for his hard work, and I ask that you join me in wishing him well in the future.  His departure is effective immediately, as are the appointments of both Mike and Jason.

I will leave it to Mike and Jason to communicate to all of you their excitement about the future and their priorities for the business going forward, but I would like to express my confidence in their ability to lead MySpace into this new and promising chapter.  Since joining in April, their efforts on both the operational and product development fronts have been vital to our recent progress.

Thank you all for your continued hard work, and please join me in congratulating Mike and Jason on their new roles, and in wishing Owen all the best in the future.

Best,

Jon  

Office of Jonathan Miller
Chairman & CEO, News Corp. Digital Media Group
Chief Digital Officer, News Corporation
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Press release:
Los Angeles, CA, February 10, 2010 – News Corporation today announced that Owen Van Natta will step down from his position as MySpace CEO, effective immediately.  Mr. Van Natta will be replaced by newly-elevated co-Presidents Mike Jones and Jason Hirschhorn, who will each report to Jon Miller, Chairman and CEO of Digital Media for News Corporation.  All three executives joined MySpace in April 2009, with Mr. Jones and Mr. Hirschhorn previously serving as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Product Officer, respectively. 

“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 Jon Miller, News Corporation’s Chairman and CEO of Digital Media.  “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.” 

Mr. Miller continued, “Mike and Jason have demonstrated true leadership in their operational and product guidance, respectively, and I have the utmost confidence in both of them to lead MySpace into its next chapter.” 

In a joint statement, Mr.  Jones and Mr. Hirschhorn noted:

“We joined MySpace last April with very a specific set of goals in mind, and are anxious to continue working together to make those goals a reality.  This business is now pointed in the right direction, and we have a great team of employees that will continue to push MySpace closer to its potential as the place where people go to be discovered and to discover great content.”

Mr. Van Natta commented:

“MySpace is an incredibly unique place and we’ve made real gains in terms of product focus and user experience.  I’m proud of the work we’ve all accomplished together and look forward to watching its continued growth.” 

Prior to his role as MySpace COO, Mr. Jones founded and operated several online businesses, including Userplane, a leading provider of tools for online communities such as MySpace. Userplane was acquired in 2006 by AOL (NYSE: AOL), where Jones subsequently served as a senior vice president and focused on social media monetization and also pioneered the distribution of widgets and other technology to Web publishers. He also was founder and CEO of Tsavo Media, an online content and search network developing next-generation publishing platforms and technology services. 

Since joining MySpace, Mr. Hirschhorn oversaw all aspects of product development, and previously has led both start-up and established online businesses. He was president of Sling Media, Inc’s Entertainment Group, which created consumer-driven applications and services for the Slingbox device, and was chief digital officer at MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA), where he oversaw the company’s digital media businesses, products and strategies. Hirschhorn joined MTV Networks following the acquisition of his company, Mischief New Media, which provided interactive services to the entertainment industry.