Looks like it's shake-up time again at AOL.
In a memo to AOLers today, CEO Tim Armstrong announced a batch of management changes. The latest major casualty of AOL’s continuing comeback? Ad sales boss Jeff Levick, one of Armstrong’s earliest hires who joined the company from Google in 2009.
“Jeff undertook one of the toughest jobs in the Internet space when he joined AOL,” Armstrong said, according to a memo published by The Wall Street Journal’s tech blog All Things D. “In the past two years, he developed a world-class leadership team, led the industry toward the future of premium formats for brand advertising, and helped lead a game-changing shift in perception and quality of the AOL advertising experience.”
Armstrong’s memo also said that PR head Lauren Hurvitz and HR chief Kathy Andreasen will be transitioning out of the company.
The announcement comes just two weeks before the company’s second-quarter earnings call.
Levick will remain at the company for another six weeks, Armstrong said.
In recent weeks Levick had been front and center with other executives at corporate events. He was on the agenda at AOL’s investor day in mid-June and took part in a panel discussion with editorial chief Arianna Huffington during New York’s Internet Week earlier last month.
Citing an “AOL insider,” All Things D suggests that the executive shuffle reflects the influence of Huffington, who “hated” the middle manager-heavy corporate structure at AOL.
Other changes include a new chief revenue officer position (filled by Ned Brody, head of Advertising.com) and streamlined general manager and corporate operations structures.
In a statement, an AOL spokeswoman said the management reorg would simplify the company’s structure, with the goal of helping it grow.
“We have stabilized the foundation of the company over the past year and are now fully focused on executing on our core goals—leading in digital content, including mobile and video, and leading in brand advertising,” she said.
