Fairly Interesting Article About SEEK and Starwave Transition...
(This from MSNBC, a neglected (on my part) site...By the way,
Beth Haggerty ain't no slouch.)
Starwave ad exec cedes to Infoseek
Richard LeFurgy will step down; Beth Haggerty takes sales
By Jane Weaver
MSNBCAug 12 -In what could be considered the first management fallout since Walt Disney Co. made its complex investment in Infoseek, advertising and marketing responsibilities for Starwave Corp.'s ESPN/ABC News Internet Ventures are being shifted to an executive at the search-engine company, MSNBC has learned.
ÿÿ
ÿ THE MOVE COMES as Richard LeFurgy, the highly regarded executive vice president of ad sales for ESPN/ABC, is leaving the company. Infoseek vice president of worldwide sales Beth Haggerty will head up sales for all of Starwave's properties, including ESPN/SportsZone, NBA.com, NFL.com ABCNews.com and the celebrity gossip site Mr. Showbiz. Disney vice president Scott Schiller remains head of Disney Online's advertising and sponsorship sales.
ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿStarwave was bought by Disney for a reported $350 million over the last year from Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft. In a complex deal announced this June, Disney then traded ownership of Starwave (plus $70 million in cash) to Infoseek for a 43 percent stake in the third largest search directory. That deal is expected to be finalized in October.
ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿInformed sources characterize the restructuring as part of a power struggle between executives at the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based search engine and the Starwave team in Bellevue, Wash. In this instance, Infoseek is being seen as the stronger brand online, despite Starwave's yearlong association with Disney.
ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿA Disney spokesperson declined to comment on any further restructuring in the works, saying the companies are still in "a transitional phase."
ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿLeFurgy's plans are undecided, although he says he will remain in interactive advertising, either on the publishing or agency side, or "as the CEO of a new media startup." In 1995, LeFurgy helped establish the sales division of Starwave Corp.'s properties, bringing in major consumer advertisers like Levi's, Gatorade and Toyota.
ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿLeFurgy is also chairman of the industry's Internet Advertising Bureau trade group, and will retain that post. |
