AOL chairman and CEO Randy Falco and president and COO Ron Grant will be stepping down from the media company. Falco will be replaced by Google executive Tim Armstrong.
“Randy led AOL in its transition from a subscription business to an audience business,” said Time Warner chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes in a statement. “[Falco and Grant] also aggressively cut costs as they restructured the audience business portion of the company into three distinct operating units: People Networks, MediaGlow, and Platform-A. As Randy and Ron move on, they leave AOL with our gratitude and appreciation for remaking the company and bringing it to a new and promising level.”
Falco and Grant will remain with the company during a transition period, at which point Armstrong will take over operations at the company.
Armstrong serves on Google’s Operating Committee and was the company’s president of Americas Operations. He has also worked in the television industry as part of Disney/ESPN’s Internet ventures.
“Tim is the right executive to move AOL into the next phase of its evolution,” Bewkes said in a statement. “At Google, Armstrong helped build one of the most successful media teams in the history of the Internet -- helping to make Google the most popular online search advertising platform in the world for direct and brand marketers. He’s an advertising pioneer with a stellar reputation and proven track record. We are privileged to have him preside over AOL as its audience and programming businesses continue to grow and its advertising platform expands globally. He’ll also be helpful in helping Time Warner determine the optimal structure for AOL”
