Twitter hires Hubbard

TWITTER JUST THE TICKET: Nathan Hubbard wasn’t out a job for long. The recently deposed Ticketmaster CEO has bobbed to the surface as he’s hired by Twitter, the L.A. Times reports in a story that doesn’t get around to mentioning Hubbard by name until the fourth paragraph—meaning you have to turn to page four of the business section in the print edition to find it. According to the Times, Hubbard has been brought in “to spearhead an ambitious push into online commerce, fueling speculation that the social network could move quickly toward an initial public offering—as soon as early 2014.” In an interview, Hubbard said that Twitter was aiming to "get people in the moment to buy and to act on their passions. That to me is the opportunity. I look at Twitter as one of the greatest discovery and distribution platforms in the world. Just as Twitter partnered with content owners to help them better distribute their content, we think about commerce the same way: how we can be a distribution and awareness partner." (8/28a)