Mayer hops from Go to top Playboy.com
Site headed for IPO
Rumored to be leaving Go for some time, Mayer officially traded in his Mouse ears for bunny ears over the President's Day weekend for a cash package and 3%-5% of Playboy.com's stock.
Based in New York, Mayer will report to Christie Hefner, Playboy.com's chair and CEO of Playboy Enterprises.
Playboy.com, a subsid of Playboy Enterprises Inc. that oversees the company's adult Web sites, has also named Ed Mullen vice chairman of its board of directors. He is currently prexy and director of Marketing Services Group, a conglom of 11 Internet and marketing services companies. He also serves on the boards of dot-coms Digital Bitcasting and BeNext.com.
In his new post, Mayer, who was also named a director on Playboy.com's board, will oversee and expand the unit's efforts, trying to attract a younger aud, but first focusing on the company's IPO this spring.
Mayer would become the second major hire for Playboy.com as it ramps up its management staff with entertainment execs before going public. It recently hired E! Online senior editor Jeff Reid as a senior editor of its content offerings.
Mayer replaces Buford Smith, who left the post last April.
"This is a great opportunity to lead a world-famous brand onto a revolutionary entertainment and communications medium," Mayer said. "Playboy.com is leveraging the power of the Web to influence how men live and play, and is transforming how they are entertained, how they shop and how they communicate."
Back at the Mouse House, Mayer ran ESPN and ABC's Web sites, which include ESPN.com, ABCNews.com and ABC.com. Before that, Mayer was Disney's senior veep of strategic planning, overseeing planning for its new-media and technology ventures. He joined Disney in 1993.
