Posts Tagged ‘Tim Armstrong’

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Massachusetts Joins Growing Crowd Probing Facebook IPO (PC Magazine)
Massachusetts regulators on Tuesday issued a subpoena to Morgan Stanley, the lead underwriter for Facebook’s initial public offering, in an effort to get answers about reports that some investors and not others were informed of earnings revisions for the company ahead of the IPO. The highly publicized IPO is facing scrutiny from several quarters for possible irregularities that may have occurred before the stock was floated and continued through the first day of trading. AllFacebook The hopes of collectors who sought to own one share of Facebook stock from its initial public offering last week were dashed, as paper stock certificates will not be made available, after all. CNNMoney reported that Computershare, which handles shareholder records for the social network, alerted GiveAShare.com and OneShare late last week that there would be no paper stock certificate. Reuters Facebook has agreed to settle a lawsuit that alleged the site’s “Sponsored Stories” feature publicized users’ “likes” without compensation or the ability to opt out, according to a court document filed on Tuesday. The proposed class action lawsuit, filed in a San Jose, Calif., federal court, could have included nearly one of every three Americans, with billions of dollars in damages, court documents say. PCWorld Facebook’s Timeline profiles may be getting a redesign, but this one probably won’t trigger a backlash. The new Timeline design, spotted by TPM Livewire, condenses the biographical information at the top of the page, so it’s nested within the user’s banner image instead of appearing below. Links to the user’s friends list, photos, locations and likes are tucked neatly underneath the banner, next to the user’s profile picture. Alongside those links, a new button called “Summary” leads to a list of major life events. CNET A federal judge has refused to order a Norwegian website that describes itself as “the number one socializing porn and sex network” to turn over its name to Facebook. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White last week ruled that the court had no jurisdiction because Facebook, which sued in California, had failed to show that the owner of website Faceporn had targeted residents of the state. Read more

However, CEO Tim Armstrong put a positive spin on the numbers, saying the company posted its first gains in display advertising revenue since the last quarter of 2007. I applaud AOL for making gains in revenue, which looks promising. The company’s turnaround plan is beginning to take form. I haven’t marked AOL gone yet.

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Just two business days after it was out with the old at AOL and Huffington Post Media Group, it was in with the new, as the division created by the merger of AOL and The Huffington Post announced several new hires, including two high-profile additions — Twitter co-founder Biz Stone as strategic impact adviser, and veteran journalist John Montorio as culture and entertainment editor — as well as the promotion of HuffPost senior political editor Howard Fineman to editorial director for the group.

Huffington Post Media Group and AOL also announced the addition of two new neighborhoods in Newark to Patch, in partnership with that city’s Twitter-friendly Mayor Cory Booker, and the launch of its 30-Day Service Challenge employee volunteer initiative.

Stone will advise on social impact and cause-based initiatives, including the development of a platform to make it easier for people to perform services in their communities. He will also recruit other companies to invest in and deploy best corporate practices, and create and develop a video series spotlighting companies and executives that are stellar in philanthropy and corporate responsibility.

Montorio boasts more than 30 years of experience reporting, writing, editing, and managing news staffs, including stints with The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.

In his new role, Fineman will help shape Huffington Post Media Group’s overall coverage, as well as working to integrate AOL news and information brands. He will also guide coverage of the upcoming presidential campaign coverage, continuing to report for HuffPost, and retaining his role as an analyst for NBC and MSNBC.

Other new editorial hires across Huffington Post Media Group:

White House correspondent Jennifer Bendery, who had been covering The White House and House and Senate Leadership for Roll Call for the past three years;

Culture/style reporter Caroline Dworin, who had been a regular contributor to the City section of The New York Times and appeared in anthology More New York Stories: The Best of the City Section of The New York Times;

Workplace reporter Dave Jamieson, who formerly covered transportation issues for TBD;

General assignment writer Saki Knafo, who previously wrote for The New York Times Magazine, New York magazine, The Believer, GQ, and Publishers Weekly;

News editor Simone Landon, who had been producer of Morning Edition for Rhode Island Public Radio;

Real estate editor Catherine New, whose work has been published by The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Metro Newspaper, Flavorpill.com, Men’s Vogue, and Psychology Today;

And four new Jefferson young journalists: Katherine Bindley, who graduated from Georgetown University and was a regular contributor to The New York Times City section, as culture/style reporter; Laura Gottesdiener, who graduated from Yale University and was a staff writer for The Brooklyn Paper, as lifestyle reporter; Joy Resmovits, who graduated from Barnard College and has been at The Jewish Daily Forward since 2010, as education reporter; and Laura Stampler, who graduated from Stanford University and has written for The New Republic, The Nation, and The Miami Herald, as lifestyle reporter.

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AOL CEO Tim Armstrong sent an email to staffers detailing the much-reported layoffs taking place Thursday. The full email appears after the jump, but highlights follow:

• Affected employees will be notified by 3 p.m. ET Thursday, followed by an all-employee call at 5 p.m.

• Nearly 200 people in the media and tech groups in the United States will be affected, along with nearly 700 in India, with some 300 of the latter transitioning to outsourcing partners.

• Assistance programs will be made available to affected employees.

• The concept of towns and mayors is being scrapped. Department editor positions will be created for each editorial department, and their partners will be the general managers (formerly mayors), who will continue to serve as CEOs.

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The Huffington Post Media Group announced its first six hires since the merger of The Huffington Post and Aol: Michael Calderone (as previously reported), Trymaine Lee, Michael McAuliffe, Jon Ward, Bonnie Kavoussi, and Lucas Kavner.

Calderone, formerly of Yahoo! News’ The Cutline, will be senior media reporter. New senior reporter Lee had been with The New York Times. McAuliffe, previously with the New York Daily News, is the new senior congressional reporter. The Daily already suffered its first loss in Ward, who was named senior political reporter. New business reporter Kavoussi is set to graduate from Harvard University. And Unigo founding editor Kavner will be The Huffington Post Media Group’s entertainment reporter.

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Aol CEO Tim Armstrong and Arianna Huffington, who will be president and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group once the merger between Aol and The Huffington Post closes, spoke at the paidContent 2011 conference in New York Thursday, as captured by Beet.TV.

Huffington said she “won’t mess” with Aol properties such as TechCrunch and Engadget, adding that the platform for bloggers will be larger and more attractive post-merger. Armstrong touched on Aol’s video plans.

The acquisition of The Huffington Post by Aol earlier this month claimed its first major executive casualty, as Aol Media president David Eun announced that he will leave the company when the transaction closes, as Arianna Huffington, who was named president and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group, will take over Eun’s responsibilities.

Sources told AdAge Aol CEO Tim Armstrong offered Eun a position in the company’s video unit, but he declined.

Aol also announced that Aol Ventures president Jon Brod is leading the integration of Aol and HuffPost, and he will be named chief operating officer of Huffington Post Media Group once the deal is final, reporting to Huffington.

The emails to Aol staff from Eun (via TechCrunch) and Armstrong (via AdAge) follow after the jump.

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A news announcement at midnight on Super Bowl Sunday had better be something big if it expects to attract any kind of attention, and in the media world, this one was huge (and shocking): Aol announced that it will acquire The Huffington Post, and that HuffPost co-founder and editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington will assume the post of president and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group, encompassing all HuffPost and Aol content including Engadget, TechCrunch, Moviefone, MapQuest, Black Voices, PopEater, AOL Music, AOL Latino, AutoBlog, Patch, and StyleList.

The transaction is valued at $315 million, with approximately $300 million to be paid in cash funded from cash on hand, and it is expected to close in the late first quarter or early second quarter of this year.

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Content is king again at Aol: Just days after hiring an executive editor to oversee its homepage, former FoxNews.com executive editor Stephen Bromberg, the online giant reached content agreements with three outside sources.

Silicon Alley Insider reported that The Sporting News will provide Aol with sports news and content, while its existing FanHouse will remain to handle opinion pieces. Everyday Health will provide fare for Aol’s health section, Silicon Alley Insider added, while its real estate section will incorporate content from Move.com.

Aol CEO Tim Armstrong said in a statement, “The strategy hasn’t changed. With the content deals we’re doing today, what it allows us to do is continue to invest in other brands.”

On a conference call to announce the deal, as reported by Silicon Alley Insider, Armstrong added that “a couple of dozen jobs,” at worst, would be affected, and there wouldn’t be a “massive reduction in the number of sites.”

Aol will look to boost its original video offerings by adding at least six scripted Web series from Vuguru, the digital studio started by former Disney CEO Michael Eisner.

Each project will be produced as a continuous story of approximately 90 minutes in length, and the comedy and drama series will be made available in segments of 5-20 minutes, according to The New York Times. Financial terms of the transaction were not revealed, but Aol and Vuguru will work together to package and sell the productions in order to maximize audience engagement and advertiser interest.

Aol CEO Tim Armstrong told the Times, “We feel like we are building the future of great high-quality video content,” and Eisner added that the six offerings are “story-telling series, emotional series. These are shows that, in another form, could be on cable.”

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