News Corp.'s (NYSE:NWS) chief digital officer Jonathan Miller continues to stack the MySpace executive team with top talent. The latest hire, according to
paidContent.org, is Sam Wick (pictured) as senior vice president of strategy. Wick previously was VP of strategy and corporate development for AOL LLC's display advertising unit Platform A. You may remember that Miller was
famously fired as AOL CEO in November 2006.
Making over MySpace is a priority for Miller, who joined News Corp. in March, and Wick isn't the first AOL alum he's tapped. He also recently
recruited Michael Jones, a former AOL SVP, as the social networking site's chief operating officer. Other recent hires include Owen Van Natta, formerly of Facebook Inc., who
took over as CEO in April, replacing MySpace founder Chris DeWolfe, and Sling Media Inc.'s Jason Hirschhorn as chief product officer.
Wick departs AOL as the struggling Internet firm plans for life as an independent company. Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX) confirmed on May 28 it would
spin out the business. And Wick's previous unit,
Platform A, is seen by AOL as its best option for growth.
That said, it's safe to say that AOL's new CEO Tim Armstrong isn't surprised by Miller's poaching. As we've reported previously, Armstrong is mining his former employer, Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), for talent. In April, he lured Google exec Jeff Levick to lead
global advertising and strategy, and more recently hired the search firm's
Erin Clift as VP of global sales development.
- Suzanne Stevens
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