Los Angeles, CA, April 24, 2009 –
News Corporation today announced the appointment of Owen Van Natta to the
role of MySpace Chief Executive Officer effective immediately. Mr. Van Natta
will be based in Los Angeles and report directly to Jonathan Miller, News
Corporation’s CEO of Digital Media and Chief Digital Officer.
A highly-regarded digital executive, Mr. Van Natta, 39, previously served as
Chief Revenue Officer and Vice President of Operations for Facebook, where
he helped negotiate Facebook’s $240 million investment from Microsoft.
Earlier, he served as Vice President of Worldwide Business and Corporate
Development for Amazon.com. Most recently, he was the CEO of Playlist, Inc.,
an online music company.
“Owen combines a deep understanding of social networking, a keen business
sense and the operational experience to guide MySpace through its next phase
of growth. I’m confident his leadership will be an invaluable asset,” said
Mr. Miller. “I plan to work closely with Owen to shape our long-term vision
around this vibrant community that already attracts more than 130 million
users worldwide.”
“I’m thrilled to have the privilege to pilot MySpace in what is sure to be
an incredibly exciting and rewarding next chapter for the business,” said
Mr. Van Natta. “I feel honored to build upon the immeasurable achievements
of the MySpace founders and look forward to working with Jon and the MySpace
team to meet the challenges and make the most of the opportunities before
us.”
While serving as Vice President of Operations and Chief Revenue Officer for
Facebook, Van Natta focused on revenue operations, business development,
strategic partnerships and technical operations. As Vice President of
Worldwide Business and Corporate Development at Amazon.com, he managed
global marketing programs and strategic partnerships. He was also part of
the founding team of A9.com, the Amazon.com search company, and was
responsible for site operations and sponsored-link advertising. Owen earned
a B.A. from the University of California at Santa Cruz.
News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) had total assets as of
December 31, 2008 of approximately US$50 billion and total annual revenues
of approximately US$33 billion. News Corporation is a diversified global
media company with operations in eight industry segments: filmed
entertainment; television; cable network programming; direct broadcast
satellite television; magazines and inserts; newspapers and information
services; book publishing; and other. The activities of News Corporation are
conducted principally in the United States, Continental Europe, the United
Kingdom, Australia, Asia and Latin America.
Contact:
Julie Henderson 310-369-0773
Teri Everett 212-852-7070