MySpace Names Facebook Veteran as CEO

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In a nod to the success of its archrival, News Corp. on Friday appointed a former Facebook executive to be the new CEO of social networking site MySpace.

Owen Van Natta, the former chief revenue officer and vice president of operations for Menlo Park-based Facebook, will take over effective immediately, the company said in a statement. Chris DeWolfe, one of MySpace’s original founders and the former chief executive, had announced on Wednesday that he would step down.

DeWolfe will remain on the board of MySpace China and serve as an advisor to the company. No reason was given for DeWolfe’s departure, but a statement said the decision was reached in mutual consent with Jonathan Miller, News Corp.’s chief digital officer.

One of Van Natta’s best known accomplishments while he was at Facebook was helping arrange a $240 million investment from Microsoft. He most recently served as chief executive of Playlist Inc., an online music company.

Beverly Hills-based MySpace is the largest social networking site in the United States but its growth has lagged behind Facebook. Some analysts have speculated that Facebook will overtake MySpace in terms of total users in the United States some time in 2010. Facebook already has more users than MySpace worldwide.

Tom Anderson, MySpace’s president and another of the company’s founders, is currently in talks with Miller to step down from his position as well. Anderson would assume a new unspecified role in the company.

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