The body isn’t cold yet (or even officially pronounced dead), but there is already broad speculation on who may be the next CEO of MySpace. Last night we were handed a list of names by a source close to MySpace parent company News Corp., cloak and dagger style, with a “guarantee” that one of them will be the next CEO. We don’t put much faith in the guarantee, but speculation is always interesting. Here’s the list of possible candidates, along with our thoughts on each. We’ve also added a couple of names that we think would be compelling candidates.
Here’s the list:
Jason Calacanis: He’s currently the CEO of Sequoia-backed Mahalo and not likely on the job market. But he has very close ties to new News Corp. Digital chief Jonathan Miller, who controls MySpace. Miller acquired his previous company, Weblogs, Inc. in 2005, and Calacanis has been an unabashed fan ever since. I wouldn’t be surprised if these two worked together again some day. Likelihood: 1/10.
Brad Garlinghouse: The former Yahoo executive and infamous author of the leaked Peanut Butter Manifesto that suggested broad ranging product changes at Yahoo. Most of his recommendations are now finally being implemented. Hard charging, well liked by peers and his team. But he’s likely going to choose semi-retirement and a big paycheck at a private equity firm. He is currently an advisor to Silver Lake, a private equity shop with $14 billion in assets under management. Likelihood: 1/10.
Reid Hoffman: Currently CEO of LinkedIn and, I’m guessing, not interested in the job. But he’s on our secret list, and he certainly would be a dream candidate. He’s grown LinkedIn to a billion dollar valuation and profitability. MySpace and Facebook took the flashier route to success, but LinkedIn has just as much long term potential. Our guess is he won’t stay CEO of LinkedIn for long, newcomer Jeff Weiner (he’s on this list too, see below) is obviously being groomed for the CEO spot as the company prepares for IPO. So he could be on the market down the road. But MySpace isn’t the job he’ll want. Likelihood: 1/10.
Jim Lanzone: Former Ask.com CEO and one of the more promising and creative young executives in Silicon Valley. Currently an EIR at Redpoint. He’d be a fine choice to run MySpace, but word on the street is he’s about to launch a new startup of his own. Likelihood: 1/10.
Ross Levinsohn: Former News Corp. executive and Chris DeWolfe’s boss. Knows MySpace intimately and is close friends and business associates with Miller. Knows the Internet and media and has deep contacts in both industries. Could be the perfect candidate, if he was willing to go back to News Corp. Likelihood: 5/10.
David Liu: Well regarded executive who runs Bebo and other social assets at AOL. All of the AOL execs seem a little shaky on their feet with the new CEO and all the rumors around a spinoff or sale. On the downside, word on the street is he’s one of the guys AOL is looking to keep (same with Joanna Shields and Bill Wilson, two other AOL execs on our list). Likelihood: 1/10.
Jeremy Philips: Executive Vice President at News Corp. and reportedly was interested in Jonathan Miller’s job. Well regarded by Rupert Murdoch. He’d be an obvious choice, but our guess is Miller would want someone less of an insider and with less of a direct line to Murdoch. We’ve also heard he isn’t interested in the job, for what it’s worth. Likelihood: 2/10.
Quincy Smith: Ex Netscape executive, venture capitalist and currently the head of CBS Interactive. MySpace is a step down for him, but it’s not clear what CBS Interactive’s charter is now that their parent company’s market cap has been destroyed. There are also strong rumors of an internal political struggle with former CNET CEO Neil Ashe, who’s now president of CBS Interactive. One of these guys will be leaving the company, and usually it’s the more competent executive who leaves first. Likelyhood: 5/10.
Owen Van Natta: Former Facebook and Amazon executive. Currently the CEO of litigation-mired Playlist.com. He’s only been at Playlist for a few months, but rumor is he’s actively looking for a new job and interviewed for Jonathan Miller’s job. Taking over MySpace would be a dramatic move for the former Facebooker. We consider him a very likely candidate. Likelihood: 5/10.
Jeff Weiner: Former senior Yahoo exec and currently President of LinkedIn. Clearly being groomed for the CEO position (see discussion of Reid Hoffman above). But if the path to CEO isn’t clear, he may be willing to run MySpace. He’d be an excellent candidate, but he’s likely very happy in his current position. Likelihood: 1/10.
Gideon Yu: What sweet revenge this would be. Yu was the CFO of Facebook until two weeks ago, when he was terminated under suspicious circumstances. Extremely well regarded executive who was primarily responsible for Google’s $1.65 billion acquisition of YouTube. Former Google and Yahoo exec. Superstar, etc. Would be a perfect candidate, but unlikely to want the job. Likelihood: 1/10.
Ross would be my pick
Hey – how can there be 3 guys with a 5 in 10 chance, 7 guys with a 1 in 10 chance, and 1 guy with a 2 in 10 chance.
That’s a 24 in 10 chance you’ll be right.
Of course, I heard 5/4ths of all people do have trouble with fractions…
@snarky, that’s Valley math for you.
Internet math. It’s how FB can be valued at 15 billion then 2 billion a few months later.
Ever seen The Producers?
Ross is obviously the most qualified for this specific property/role, but I doubt he would go back to Fox.
No way Reid Hoffman would leave Linkedin, as founder, to join MySpace, as CEO (a role he now has by default)
Don’t know Gideon.
No way Lanzone is right for this role.
Why would Jeff leave Linkedin?
No chance on Jeremy Philips — is this a joke?
Don’t know Quincy.
Don’t know David Lui.
How is Brad Garlinghouse qualified? This must be another joke to throw you off the scent.
He’s mentioned as qualified because while at Yahoo he was TC’s main source of leaks (self promoting ones, of course). One hand washes the other, in this case. It’s just the TechCrunch way.
Calacanis would probably mix it up enough to make MySpace relevant again.
I don’t know if they’d risk it however.
Relevant like what? Mahalo as a search engine and destination. Please stop being an idiot.
calacanis? hoffman? garlinghouse? surely you jest. the FOX brass are not that gullible.
You’re right. They’ll give the position to some uncreative dolt who will promptly run it into the ground.
i think it will be a woman . i dont know who but it will be a woman.
Does anyone care? MySpace is an also ran next to Facebook and Twitter really these days.
that is an absurd statement. myspace has 125MM users – 20X twitters traffic.
Let me throw in a name that is not listed here: Caterina Fake, co-founder of Flickr.
Her bio from Wikipedia:
“Fake was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, attended Choate Rosemary Hall, Smith College, and graduated from Vassar College in 1991. Fake is half-Filipino… Fake is best known as the co-founder, with Stewart Butterfield, of Flickr…”
MySpace needs a person who knows the business, and who has the classy taste to upgrade its image. Ms. Fake fits the bill.
yukkk what happened here.. did somebody die… black frame u r kidding right… didn’t cuil the glamorous search engine have black too.. its typically the thing websites do before they die…
wtf… it hurts just to look at it.. and I don’t even start from a design perspective….
I’m guessing it’s for Earth Day, not a permanent change.
Likelihood of this color scheme being permanent: 1/10
what value is there in posting an article about possible candidates and then rating most of them 1/10
why not add
kermit the frog – 1/10
britney spears – 1/10
Mr A Turd – 1/10
But maybe he is just putting the list he was handed. As he said:
“Last night we were handed a list of names by a source close to MySpace parent company News Corp., cloak and dagger style, with a “guarantee” that one of them will be the next CEO. We don’t put much faith in the guarantee, but speculation is always interesting”
The rating is what he thinks of the names.
sorry, my web addy was wrong and since I do not do anonymous comments, I had to re post.
how about joanna shields – CEO bebo, now SVP at aol people networks.
From what I know about Joanna Shields, who’s President of AOL’s People Networks, I think she’d be a good choice. I think being President makes her an EVP though http://kara.all...-red-than-dead/
My vote is for Brad Greenspan.
if they still plan on harnessing 20 million small businesses locator would be the perfect candidate. TC could you please add me to the list.
Locator Dude – well regarded blogger on TC. considered the godfather of vertical locator cluster technology. currently CEO of MyLocator.com. 10 year small businessman and entrepreneur. claims no other startup on the internet has the capacity to show greater “promise or potential.” a strategic acquisition or merger of the two companies would forever solidity news corp as the greatest and most powerful social media player in the history of the internet.
guys mentioned are not creators. creative leadership is needed, not follower. none of these guys founded a social network and now the’re listed as potentially having the capacity to run the largest one on the net?
MasterLocator.com – best of skill
LOL. I recall Brad from the early days over at Intermix when security had to be called to remove him from the building after one of his tantrums. I was standing next to Richard Rosenblatt when the receptionist called building security. After security asked him to leave, we all took guesses on how much plastic surgery he had.
Brad is probably best suited to run the local Jack in the Box in Hollywood.
The dark horse candidate for this is Brian Shin, of Visible Measures. He knows better than most novel ways in which sites can monetize their vids and audio streams.
He is a world class leader who was also one of the inventors of the application server/programing language Cold Fusion.
Can’t see Calacanis at MySpace, but Levinsohn is a good pick. However I think they’re casting a wider net.
Chamath Palihapitiya
Now at Facebook, close to Miller from AOL
http://www.crun...th-palihapitiya
one question, is myspace part of FIM or it is on its own? is the CEO of myspace same as FIM’s CEO?
myspace is division of FIM and FIM is under News Corp.
Long term, it looks like Myspace will continue toi lose market share to facebook, and there’s nothing that can be done about it. Even in the over hyped recession Facebook is thriving. http://iamned.com/blog/
What about Adam Cahan from Auditude? He was formerly at Google (tech) and MTV Networks (media) and did a big deal with MySpace.
really, who cares?
Myspace ?
http://notonmys...ce.blogspot.com
Who’s made these odd’s: Levison is 5/10 jeaz isn’t bad enough his own partner joined Fox, you think Levinsohn would be smart enough not to get burned 2x… Miller obviously didn’t have the “off the record” candid talk about internal politics w Levinsohn… MySpace needs the young energy and vision from an non-corporate type that can deliver a platform that stay’s cool and relevant, maybe a COO/CFO is control the business side, clearly not a Levinsohn trait- If Rupert’s top brass had a clue the guy they hire will be compensated on revenue growth, and NET profits and not some hyped accounting/ad metrics…
The formatting made me think there was a guy named “Butter Manifesto” for a sec. That would have been my pick regardless of qualifications.
Looks like there are going to be 2.4 CEOs at MySpace…. I’ll take those odds!