NEW YORK (AP) - The New York Times Co., which is under pressure from a large
investor to revamp its online business, is parting ways with one of its top
Internet executives, the head of its About.com unit.
The departure of Scott Meyer comes as the Times and other newspapers are
working hard to build up their revenues from online advertising amid a deepening
slump in their mainstay print advertising revenues.
Meyer said in a note to his staff that following discussions with Martin
Nisenholtz, the head of digital operations at The New York Times Co., Meyer
would leave About and the Times company next Thursday, March 6. A search for his
replacement will begin soon, he said.
Meyer's departure was reported earlier Wednesday by PaidContent.org, an
online news site.
The Times is gearing up for a proxy showdown with Harbinger Capital, an
investment firm which owns 19 percent of the company. Harbinger wants to
nominate its own candidates for the four directors that are elected by holders
of the Times' publicly traded Class A shares.
The Sulzberger family, which also owns about 19 percent of the company,
elects the other nine directors through a special class of Class B shares which
they control.
Harbinger, working with New York University marketing professor Scott
Galloway, is pressing for the Times to jettison some of its assets and focus on
building up its digital businesses.
The Times has said it would meet with Harbinger's candidates and consider
them for nomination. But in its initial proxy statement filed last week, the
company urged shareholders not to vote for Harbinger's nominees. The Times'
annual meeting is scheduled for April 22.
The New York Times Co. purchased About.com, an online consumer information
company, for $410 million in cash from the magazine publisher Primedia Inc. in
2005.
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