Yahoo close to hiring Levinsohn as head of U.S. operations
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Former Fox Interactive Media President Ross Levinsohn is in negotiations with Yahoo to replace Hilary Schneider as head of U.S. operations and is close to taking the job, a person familiar with the situation confirmed.
The news was first reported by All Things D’s Kara Swisher.
Levinsohn, who probably will remain in Los Angeles if he takes the job, declined to comment. A Yahoo spokeswoman also declined to comment.
Yahoo Chief Executive Carol Bartz is under pressure to revive lagging confidence that Yahoo can recapture its former Internet glory in the wake of several executive departures. Bringing in a deeply experienced and savvy digital media deal maker and executive to oversee its media properties and advertising sales force could give Yahoo’s confidence a boost.
Levinsohn is currently an investor at Fuse Capital in Los Angeles. It invests in digital media and communications start-ups.
But he became well known for running digital operations for News Corp.’s FIM unit. He pushed to buy MySpace, at the time a rising Internet star, and struck a lucrative search advertising deal with Google. After leaving News Corp., he teamed up with former AOL chief Jonathan Miller in an investment firm, Velocity Capital. Miller is now chief digital officer of News Corp.
-- Jessica Guynn and Dawn Chmielewski