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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
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Former Facebook Exec Named MySpace CEO

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(Newser) – News Corp. has hired former Facebook executive Owen Van Natta to run MySpace, the Wall Street Journal reports. The expected move may be announced as early as today. The hiring comes fast for MySpace, which announced Wednesday that current CEO Chris DeWolfe was stepping down, along with fellow co-founder Tom Anderson as president.

Van Natta joined Facebook in 2005, when it was still open only to college students. He was instrumental in opening it to the public and securing an investment from Microsoft. He left the company in 2008 to become CEO of the Project Playlist music streaming site. Though MySpace still has more US visitors than Facebook, that gap is closing, and Facebook has more users globally.  

Owen Van Natta, in a screen grab from YouTube
Owen Van Natta, in a screen grab from YouTube   (YouTube)
News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, who owns the social networking Web site MySpace, speaks at the company's Global Energy Initiative in this May 9, 2007, file photo.
News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, who owns the social networking Web site MySpace, speaks at the company's Global Energy Initiative in this May 9, 2007, file photo.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, file)
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TerrifiedCitizen
Apr 25, 09 12:39 AM CDT
Will Myspace's general policies now undergo an overhaul similar to Facebook's; the debacle that nearly caused a membership mutiny? Reply
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