Former Facebook executive named MySpace CEO

Announcing the departure of DeWolfe, News Corp. said that MySpace president Tom Anderson would also be assuming a new role in the company.

Anderson and DeWolfe are credited with creating MySpace, which launched in 2003 and was bought by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. in 2005 for 580 million dollars.

Rumors that DeWolfe and Anderson would be dethroned began circulating earlier this year as MySpace logged a drop in the number of users while its young rival Facebook posted gains.

Facebook replaced MySpace last year as the world’s most popular social network, and industry figures show it has been widening its lead. Facebook welcomed its 200 millionth user last week.

While the number of users has grown at an amazing clip, the Palo Alto, California-based Facebook is yet to prove how it is going to translate traffic into cash.

MySpace, in comparison, claims it has been making money from the outset and has worked to position itself as a platform for musicians and their fans, and even added karaoke services.

US software giant Microsoft bought a 1.6 percent stake in Facebook in 2007 for 240 million dollars, valuing the social network on paper at 15 billion dollars.