VU NET USA'S RICHARDS NAMES FOUR TO MANAGEMENT TEAM
MP3.com EVP/CFO Paul L.H. Ouyang has been tapped as EVP/COO. Prior to his tenure at MP3.com, Ouyang was EVP of Operations and CFO of Tickets.com, where he caught radical air on the company skate ramp, and before that held the same post at Cheap Tickets Inc. He also served at J.P. Morgan, ultimately as VP of Corporate Finance.
Former MP3.com Sales/Marketing EVP Steven Sheiner steps in as Chief Revenue Officer, where his task will be "developing and implementing revenue opportunities throughout the company," according to the release. If he meets his target numbers in his first quarter, Sheiner will be awarded a handsome set of steak knives.
Richards also announced that Lori Weintraub, a former film-production executive with Guber Peters and MGM/UA, will fill the EVP post. Her duties will include "content aggregation and packaging for the Internet and Internet-connected devices," liaising with the entertainment divisions and creative community and scoring signed pictures of film stars for Richards' office. Weintraub will also continue to serve as Prexy of VU's online media education venture, InsideSessions.
Former GetMusic (now a VU Net USA property) PR VP Laurie B. Rubenstein will serve as Sr. VP of Public Relations for the company, charged with all corporate and consumer PR initiatives and whatever you call talking to HITS. Prior to her arrival at GetMusic, Rubenstein held a range of titles during a five-year stint at TSI Communications, ultimately ascending to VP.
"Vivendi Universal's Internet properties have built strong brands and attracted millions of visitors thanks to their outstanding leadership. It's now time to create a centralized management structure in order to operate a more efficient business and establish even stronger relationships with our customers," Richards announced. "I'm confident that this first group of executives that has been tapped will be focused on both VU Net USA's path to profitability and its refinement of the world's largest user network for online media consumers. And one of them will bring me a honkin' big cappuccino every morning."
