Big shakeup at Demand Media (DMD) as CEO and Chairman Richard Rosenblatt resigned earlier this week. While the company did not provide any reason for the move, this Variety piece quotes two Stifel analysts saying that “the change is not entirely surprising given the pressure from Google’s algo(rithm) changes on the content business, the overall strategic drift in the company and waning share price.” The shares are down over 40% YTD and close to 10% since the announcement. While the company searches for a new CEO, co-founder Shawn Colo will serve as President and interim CEO and James Quandt will become the company’s Chairman.
Despite the leadership change, the company reaffirmed its intentions to spin off its domain registration business, but noted that the company ‘is evaluating the timing for completing the separation’. This should set their plans back a bit and of course a new CEO could have an entirely new vision for the company.
For our earlier coverage of the Demand Media spin, click here.
Disclosure: Author holds no position in any stock mentioned.
Related articles
- Demand Media Cofounder And CEO Richard Rosenblatt Is Out (DMD) (businessinsider.com)