Former AOL Exec Mike Jones May Become No. 2 At MySpace
One thing MySpace has is a lot of holes in the executive ranks. Founding CEO Chris DeWolfe has been hurriedly replaced by Owen Van Natta (our thoughts on that are well known). But cofounder Tom Anderson is no longer President and head of product.
Context & Ripple Effects
News Corp.'s executive teardown of MySpace has moved fast: after News Corp. began exploring CEO options earlier this week, the company confirmed that founding CEO Chris DeWolfe is out and former Facebook exec Owen Van Natta is set to take over, with cofounder Tom Anderson also confirmed no longer President and head of product.
The remaining open seat is the No. 2 job, and the rumor circulating on 2009-04-25 is that former AOL exec Mike Jones fills it. If true, the entire top of MySpace would be run by outsiders — a Facebook alum and an AOL alum — with neither founder holding an operating title.
First-order effects
- Tom Anderson's confirmed exit removes the last founder from day-to-day product leadership at MySpace, leaving incoming CEO Owen Van Natta free to install his own team.
- Mike Jones is rumored — not confirmed — for the No. 2 role; if he takes it, he becomes the operating counterpart to a CEO hired days ago.
Second-order effects
- Van Natta's hiring pattern so far pairs a Facebook pedigree with an AOL one, signaling that News Corp. wants MySpace managed like a turnaround property rather than a founder-led startup — which pressures any other executives deciding whether to stay.
- Chris DeWolfe's departure leaves him a high-profile free agent in social media at exactly the moment rivals are scaling, making his next move itself a competitive data point.
Third-order effects
- If the outsider-management model holds, News Corp. is treating its social network as an asset to be restructured under professional operators — a template for how large media companies intervene when founder-led consumer platforms fall behind.
The trend: Founder-led social networks of the mid-2000s are being converted into professionally managed turnarounds by their corporate owners, with News Corp.'s rapid replacement of both MySpace founders the clearest instance.