Demand Media just announced that it has appointed former CEO of Ticketmaster and Saatchi Art, Sean Moriarty, as its new CEO. The company has also acquired Saatchi Online, Inc. which operates online art gallery Saatchi Art.
Co-founder and interim CEO Shawn Colo has been appointed President and will join the board of directors.
“Following last week’s spinoff of domain registrar business Rightside, Demand Media will be focused on connecting subject experts and content creators with digital and mobile audiences, with Sean Moriarty at the helm,” a spokesperson for the company tells WebProNews.
Proud to welcome Sean Moriarty as the new Demand Media CEO and to announce the acquisition of @saatchiart! @seanmo pic.twitter.com/rJvFsfrl3i
— Demand Media (@demandmedia) August 11, 2014
Colo said, “Sean is a proven leader and a strong operator with a broad range of experience that is uniquely suited to our business. I’m excited to be working closely with him as we enter the next phase of the company’s future.”
“Demand Media is an innovative company with a passionate and creative team. Our businesses are very well positioned in large global categories that people care deeply about, including how-to, health and wellness, humor, and art,” said Moriarty. “I’m excited to work closely with the team in fulfilling our vision of building an important, enduring Internet company that serves creators and consumers.”
Former CEO Richard Rosenblatt stepped down last October after announcing earlier last year that it would split into two public companies – Rightside being the domains part and Demand remaining the content part. Last month, Demand announced the sale of its Creativebug and CoveritLive properties.
Saatchi Art, the company says, “is driven by its global community of artists, similar to Demand Media’s Society6 marketplace.”
It currently has over 45,000 artists selling original work. The acquisition was about $17 million in a mix of cash and stock. Demand says it expects it to quickly contribute revenue of $0.5 million to $1 million per quarter and reduce adjusted EBITDA by $1 million to $1.5 million per quarter.
Image via Saatchi Art
