MySpace president quits 5 months after reshuffle

Mike Jones, currently the other co-president of MySpace, will run the unit. MySpace is not expected to bring in additional management.

The latest executive shuffling comes as MySpace, once a cultural touchstone that made internet social networks a household name, has fallen far behind rival Facebook.

The setback mirrors a string of other failed attempts by traditional media companies to integrate internet acquisitions.

The departure also comes ahead of a deadline in two weeks when MySpace’s lucrative internet search deal with Google expires. News Corp secured a landmark deal in 2007 to be paid $900m to use Google’s search and advertising services.

Google may be paying $100m less on the original contract as the deal was contingent on meeting minimum traffic requirements, which had fallen short, News Corp executives said late last year. It is not immediately clear if it would be able to replace the deal or with whom.

Mr Hirschhorn, who was named co-president following the departure of Owen Van Natta, formerly MySpace’s top executive, will return to New York, where he is expected to return to entrepreneurial pursuits.