John Martin

Nokia Reorg Actually "Job Rotation"

John Paczkowski in News on October 16, 2009 at 10:27 am PT

Nokia describes the management overhaul it’s undertaking as a common “job rotation,” but coming as it does after its lousy third-quarter financial performance and a worrisome decline in smartphone market share, it seems perhaps just a little bit more. This morning the Finnish mobile phone giant tapped Rick Simonson, currently its chief financial officer, as head of its handset division. And the company named Timo Ihamuotila, currently global head of sales, CFO.

Nokia Reorg Actually “Job Rotation”

John Paczkowski in News on October 16, 2009 at 10:27 am PT

Nokia describes the management overhaul it’s undertaking as a common “job rotation,” but coming as it does after its lousy third-quarter financial performance and a worrisome decline in smartphone market share, it seems perhaps just a little bit more. This morning the Finnish mobile phone giant tapped Rick Simonson, currently its chief financial officer, as head of its handset division. And the company named Timo Ihamuotila, currently global head of sales, CFO.

He's Baaaaaack: Steve Case Reemerges at AOL

Kara Swisher in News on March 17, 2009 at 9:10 am PT

As BoomTown reported earlier today, AOL was abuzz with the rumors that former execs from the online service’s glory days, including still controversial former CEO Steve Case, might make an appearance at a huge staff pep rally called by its new CEO Tim Armstrong. And so Case did show up in front of a cheering crowd this morning, along with former AOL vice chairman Ted Leonsis. Considering that many at Time Warner, which owns AOL, still harbor resentment towards Case about the disastrous merger between it and AOL a half-decade ago, the move is groundbreaking for the troubled online service and perhaps a sign that it is finally time to move forward.

Google Asks Time Warner for a $250 Million AOL Refund–Or Something Else?

Peter Kafka in Media on February 4, 2009 at 9:18 am PT

Here’s another eye-poke delivered to Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes from Google CEO Eric Schmidt: The search company has asked the media giant to refund the money it invested in AOL three years ago. That means $250 million in cash–or perhaps it wants to rework the search deal between the two companies, in order to stymie Microsoft.