MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe To Step Down

MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe is stepping down and MySpace president Tom Anderson will take on a new role in the organization.

DeWolfe's contract is set to expire and instead of renewing it, he will be a strategic adviser to MySpace and serve on the board of MySpace China, News Corp. announced Wednesday. The move stems from a mutual agreement between DeWolfe and News Corp. chief digital officer Jonathan Miller, according to a statement released by News Corp.

Miller and Anderson are discussing a new role for Anderson while his contract is set to expire as well.

"Chris and Tom are true pioneers and we greatly value the tremendous job they've done in growing MySpace into what it is today," Miller said. "Thanks largely to their vision, MySpace has become a vibrant creative community with 130 million passionate followers worldwide. It is an enormously successful property and we look forward to building on its achievements with a new management structure we'll announce in the near future."

DeWolfe, 43, said that MySpace began less than six years ago with seven employees and the company has grown to a profitable business with more than 1,600 employees. The social networking site boasts more than 130 million visitors around the globe.

"It's been one of the best experiences of my life and we're proud of, and grateful to, the team of talented people who helped us along the way," he said in a statement. "We thank them, as well as the MySpace community, for making our vision a reality."

Anderson said he loves the social networking business and looks forward to working with Miller.

"From the very beginning, our driving passion has been simple -- to create and foster a platform where people across the globe can not only meet and interact, but share music, videos, thoughts, and ideas," he said.

News Corp. reports about $50 billion in U.S. assets and annual revenue around $33 billion. In 2005, the media company bought MySpace for $580 million. Miller signed on just weeks ago to run the company's digital operations. Before that, he was with AOL.

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