NYT / About.com CEO Scott Meyer Booted
About.com's Scott Meyer was forced out as CEO of the New York Times-owned website after his senior staff threatened to quit unless he left, a tipster tells us. NYT CEO Janet Robinson had wanted to keep Meyer on, even though his reports ridiculed him as a biz-dev type who was clueless about the Web. That he left without a replacement indicates how deep the revolt went. For NYT Digital chief Martin Nisenholtz, who's running About.com for the time being, the gig is temporary, and involuntary. "Martin definitely doesn't want to run About," says our source -- though he also pressed Robinson to do something about Meyer. As for replacements? Ron McCoy, the company's chief digital architect, and an early pioneer of search-engine optimization, is the heavy lifter at About.com, but he's not a candidate for the CEO spot: He flies in from Atlanta, and is said to be uninterested in management
About.com folks, what sayest thou? Want to defend Scott, or shall we commit the above explanation to record?
Mr. Meyer's departure won't impact the business at all because he just didn't know much about it.
But, without too much work, a new leader can definitely shake up the organization, instill a some authenticity in the brand and innovation in the product, and be a great partner for Martin. The timing is great, because they'll have a ton of support.