We’ve confirmed our story from the weekend that former AOL exec Mike Jones will become the COO of MySpace. This makes him the number 2 executive of the reorganized News Corp. subsidiary under new CEO Owen Van Natta. A third new executive may also be announced later today.
An announcement will be made later this morning. Jones and Van Natta will join Jonathan Miller, the CEO Digital Media, at MySpace’s Los Angeles offices today to address employees.
Jones is a well respected entrepreneur who founded Userplane, a video chat service that added social features to dating and other sites. Userplane was bought by AOL in 2006 for around $40 million. The acquisition was made at the time that Jonathan Miller was the CEO of AOL, and Jones knows Miller well.
As we said in an earlier post about the changing of the guard at MySpace, News Corp. is making a clean sweep of the top executives. Cofounder and CEO Chris DeWolfe is out. Cofounder and President Tom Anderson is is having “discussions” about “assuming a new role in the organization.” Our guess is that the final Cofounder, CTO Aber Whitcomb, is next to go.
Jones left AOL in 2008 to start a new company, Tsavo, which sources tell us is off to a very fast start. The company raised a substantial amount of capital from American Capital and has made a number of acquisitions. Sources also say that the company is profitable. Jones will be stepping into a board of directors and advisor role, and he certainly leaves the company far more structurally sound than his new boss Owen Van Natta did with his own Project Playlist.
This is the kind of executive that many hoped Miller would bring in to run the massive MySpace property, which remains one of the largest sites on the Internet despite lagging badly behind Facebook in growth. Jones won’t have the same authority in the No. 2 position at the company, but if Van Natta is smart enough to give him room to run it will be a good sign for the company.
Another good sign – Jones is a long time user of MySpace and is very active on the site. CEO Van Natta barely has a presence, and Miller isn’t yet on the site.
I still don’t believe this…. No Way Michael.. No Way
yes.
Crazy.. Soooo Crazy. Tsavo is doing extremely well.. They have some great relationships, some great publisher sites they own that are doing over 1m uniques each, wow.. I just thought there would be more upside within tsavo rather than myspace.
Oh well.. Mike, hope your doing well. I really enjoy CrunchGear and CrunchBoard
Take Care
Josh
Just checked out MIke’s profile on MySpace. A long term user indeed. He deserves this post. Hope Owen gives him the space he needs to bring about change.
Congrats Mike. Well deserved!
Roy / Magento
and a great responsibility for Michael Jones too.
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Congratulations!! Awesome news!
Mike Jones. If that is your real name.
Who?
My first thought was that he’s jumping from one sinking ship to another.
Hopefully this won’t prevent him from acting in another season of Entourage. .
Exciting news! Congrats Mike!
Mike is an incredibly talented guy (and already in LA, which is a nice plus), and represents a huge recruiting win for MySpace. Props for Jon in signing two very complementary guys as the nucleus of the new MySpace so quickly!
Mike Joooones! 281-330-8004
I met mike at an event in San Francisco when Userplane was just getting started. He’s one of the most grounded and smart people I’ve met, a true serial entrepreneur of the highest order. Congrats to Mike, hope they give you room to maneuver at MySpace.
I’m speechless.. Mike is a good friend and an amazing entrepreneur.
He’ll make a huge impact. One of the smartest guys I know that zigs and zags the right direction to move the company forward.
congrats mike
big job ahead, but mike has got both the brains & the stones to pull it off. will be interesting to watch…
So long Jeff Berman I guess!
sounds like a good fit.
MySpace is just another form of GeoCities. Full crap. Fail.
This is an exciting and scary time for the employees. I only hope that they keep some execs that have always instilled morale and innovation and help grow that together.
quite a shocker – congrats mike
Mike will be awesome at MySpace. He will bring a clear vision for moving forward there and taking on FB.
Good luck Mike!
WOW. Congrats, Mike!
Congrats Mike! Suddenly feeling very bullish about MySpace.
Hey Mike, Congratulations on your new gig!
HUGE win for MySpace. Echoing sentiment already posted here, Mike is solid gold. Good luck, you’ve got your work cut out for you…
Congratulations Mike!
fooey!
Very smart move by Myspace, Mike Jones is a very smart & talented entrepreneur. Congrats Mike!!!
Congrats Mike! Seems facebook may finally have something to worry about…
Congrats Mike!!!
Congrats Mike! Good luck with your new gig.
Exciting news! Congrats Mike!
Who? Mike Jones Who? Mike Jones!