MySpace Staff To Be Cut In Half, Sale Expected

MySpace could use a few more friends of its own. The once-popular social networking site is not only likely to have a new owner by mid-year – or sooner, if News Corp. can find a buyer – but it’s also about to lose more than half of its current 1,100 employees before the end of the month.

CNBC reported yesterday that News Corp. is looking to layoff 50% of the company’s staff by mid-month, adding that “the company’s likely to do many more layoffs than that.” The news echoed an earlier report in the Wall Street Journal, which pointed out that the site had already laid off a third of its staff last summer in an attempt to make the company more profitable.

MySpace’s ad revenue fell by over 30% in 2010, with traffic falling 15% in November 2010 compared with the same period in 2009. Sources differ as to whether News Corp. is already in talks with prospective buyers, but a sale is expected by the middle of the year or sooner.

More On Techland:

News Corp.: We Don’t Know What To Do With MySpace

MySpace No Longer Competing With Facebook, CEO Says

MySpace Integrates Facebook, Universe Doesn’t Collapse

tereglith

Just watch Facebook buy it.
Kelley K.

Maybe if I didn’t get hacked every other month it would be more fun. Oh, and those porn ads are awesome, too. I never log into mine anymore.. but I am so hesitant to delete it because it’s got years of pictures on there… sigh.
http://mzmariana.wordpress.com mzmariana

If myspace stayed the way it was two three years ago and, listened to it’s members instead of facebook, it would not be looking for a buyer. Facebook is for kids and people looking for a one sentence communication with someone who has the brains the size of a walnut. We were writers on myspace, we had very talented poets, we were great bloggers. But this was not good enough. If myspace would have asked each member for only one dollar a year and keep it there, they could have kept the site going and not have to compete with facebook or the dumb twitter. Just because the news media goes on facebook does not make it great. We were on myspace becaue it is or was a social network. Now it is NOTHING. Too bad. I miss the old myspace.
media4citizens

I guess Ruprickt Murdoch, jackwad owner of Faux News lost a ton of money on this one. Bwahahahaha!!!!!!
http://hdustinbing.wordpress.com/ hdustinbing

Kelley…really? THAT’S your problem with MySpace? There are so many reasons to hate on MySpace, but the fact that you were not smart enough to know how to secure your account is not one of them. I used MySpace for 4 years and NEVER got hacked. then again, I am not stupid enough to click on links sent to me by friends who had THEIR accounts hacked. (I also had smarter friends so they rarely got hacked.)
http://hdustinbing.wordpress.com/ hdustinbing

media4citizens…you guess wrong…BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Newscorp bought MySpace for less than $600 million. They have mdae FAR more than that in profit since the purchase, with over a billion dollars coming from the two Google advertising deals. They also had other sources of revenue besides Google ad money. And its current projected value is about the same as they paid for it.

When all is said and done, Newscorp will have made a few hundred million dollars in PROFIT on MySpace. Again…bwahahahahahaha!