Big changes may be afoot at MySpace. Although the info’s far from being confirmed, a new report claims that CEO Chris DeWolfe – in addition to at least a couple other execs – is leaving the company on what could politely be called an involuntary basis.
Michael Arrington wrote last night, “[A] decision has already been made to terminate Chris DeWolfe’s employment with MySpace. We’ve also been told that the core MySpace executive team will follow. . . . [O]ur guess is that it’s the very senior team that will be terminated: cofounders Chris DeWolfe (CEO), Tom Anderson (President) and Aber Whitcomb (CTO).”
If true, this would seem to signal that News Corp has lost all patience with the current MySpace-Facebook situation and is ready to take things in some radical new directions. It’s not every day that from-the-beginning leaders of established organizations get sacked, after all. And the change wouldn’t just be some boardroom matter, since Tom Anderson is a component of about every MySpace user’s profile.
Still, there’s no guarantee that an executive overhaul will take place. As Kara Swisher recently pointed out, Michael Arrington and TechCrunch have gotten a rumor or two wrong before (think Google-Twitter and Google-Digg acquisition talks, for starters).
We’ve sent a request for comment to MySpace and will update this article if a reply’s received.
UPDATE: MySpace passed along a press release that states, “MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe and News Corporation’s Chief Digital Officer Jonathan Miller, announced today that, by mutual agreement, Mr. DeWolfe will not be renewing his contract and will be stepping down in the near future. Mr. DeWolfe will continue to serve on the board of MySpace China and will be a strategic advisor to the Company.
“Additionally, Mr. Miller announced that he was in discussions with Tom Anderson, MySpace’s president, about Mr. Anderson assuming a new role in the organization.”
