Founder and CEO David Talbot has left Salon.com, according to a company filing with the SEC.
According to the firm's 8-K report, "On May 29, 2012, the Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”) accepted the resignation of Mr. David Talbot as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and appointed Ms. Cynthia Jeffers to serve as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer in place of Mr. Talbot, in each case effective as of May 30, 2012.
"Ms. Cynthia Jeffers, age 38, has been serving as the Company's Chief Technology Officer since May 7, 2012, and will continue to hold such position. She previously served for two years as Technical Director at the Huffington Post, which was acquired by AOL Inc. Prior to this, Ms. Jeffers worked as a researcher at Distance Lab, a technology research lab in northern Scotland. Ms. Jeffers’ technical background includes experience with web, mobile and new and emerging platforms and she holds both a masters degree from the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University and a bachelors degree from Barnard College."
In addition, Salon's CFO has left in the shakeup.
"On May 30, 2012, Mr. Norman Blashka submitted his resignation as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, effective May 31, 2012."
Sources have indicated in recent weeks that long-time investors on Salon's board may have become impatient with the site's chronic inability to reach profitability.
Talbot himself indicated that he always considered his position as CEO, which he assumed nine months ago, as "interim." As founder, he had also long served as Salon's CEO in the company's formative years.
(Talbot recently published a book on San Francisco's recent history, Season of the Witch. I recommend this as an excellent read for anyone wishing to better understand the concept of "San Francisco values").
There have been rumors of a possible acquisition of Salon by another group of media investors.
Salon announced the management change in an articlepublished at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
(Disclosure: I worked as a consultant for Salon during its launch period in 1995, and again as a senior executive in 1998-2000.-- D.W.)
