MySpace CEO to step down

MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe will be stepping down from the helm of the social-networking site.

(Credit: Michelle Meyers/CNET)

MySpace CEO and co-founder Chris DeWolfe is stepping down from his post, but will remain on the board and serve as a "strategic adviser," parent company News Corp. announced Wednesday.

In a press release, News Corp. said DeWolfe's contract would not be renewed by "mutual decision," and that the company was in talks with MySpace President Tom Anderson to assume "a new role in the organization."

The company did not immediately name a replacement, and a company spokesperson declined to comment, but some speculate that former Facebook COO Owen Van Natta is a leading candidate.

MySpace has gone through a number of executive shakeups over the past year, including a big one late last July that saw five new executive hires at the same time as a number of departures. Three key executives announced their departure from the social-networking site in March, including Chief Operating Officer Amit Kapur.

Facebook is now the industry leader worldwide, and while MySpace remains the U.S. leader in social networking, Facebook is expected to surpass it within a year or two.

[Cheese McBeese]

Good. MySpace needs some discipline. MySpace is in serious decline because of poor s/w quality assurance, poor network engineering, and out-of-control user-interfaces. PLEASE tell us that 'Tom' is going too. Finally, Rupert Murdoch is cracking the whip.

[Harrison912]

I'm basically on MySpace to socially market my safety and security web site and rais awarness for its products so I'm always intestested in any changes going on there. Thanks, Steven, for this report.