Fresh off News Corp.’s quarterly earnings report, MySpace has added a new member to its team, and he looks more than capable of helping the site move forward.  In fact, the man’s spent a good deal of time working for a certain search giant, and he’ll oversee two businesses on which MySpace is putting more and more emphasis.

A MySpace spokesperson told WebProNews in an email, "MySpace is announcing Manu Rekhi as the new GM of MySpace Games and Developer Platform.  Manu brings to this role an extensive background in strategic business and product development with a variety of companies including Google and Lolapps."

Lolapps was Rekhi’s most recent employer.  He started there in April of last year, and has been overseeing product strategy, marketing, business development, and corporate development.  Previously, Rekhi spent about four years at Google, working as both a product manager and a product marketing manager.

One other detail worth noting: a coworker of Rekhi’s at Google wrote on his LinkedIn profile, "Manu has been ‘the man’ with respect to Google’s business strategy around Orkut (a Google community and social networking product).  He’s an expert in global online social media usage trends, monetization approaches and growth strategies."

Finally, going back even further, Rekhi’s educational experience is impressive, too, considering that he earned degrees from Columbia Business School and Boston University.

Today is not likely to be remembered fondly by members of MySpace’s PR department.  One of the most visible people on MySpace’s payroll announced this afternoon that she is leaving, and to complicate the situation, Dani Dudeck is actually the company’s vice president of corporate communications.

Dudeck’s departure may be rough on MySpace’s image for several reasons, starting with her destination.  Dudeck wrote on Twitter that she’s headed to Zynga, and while many factors could have influenced her decision, it’s hard not to infer that she thinks the social gaming company must in some way have a brighter future than MySpace.

The fact that Dudeck, and not MySpace, broke the news of her departure (and broke it with just a few days to go) is also a cause for concern.  Although to be fair, we’re waiting to hear back from MySpace regarding how it views the development and whether a replacement’s been lined up.

Also, in an objective sense, this shouldn’t represent too huge a blow for MySpace, regardless.  Dudeck has been with the company for years, but it would’ve arguably been worse if MySpace were to lose an engineering genius in charge of its next big product, or a sales whiz who arranged all of its biggest ad deals.

We’ll be sure to report any additional info as it becomes available.

Owen Van Natta, who only joined MySpace in April of last year, will no longer serve as its CEO.  Reports indicate that he’s in fact been fired, and MySpace has at least confirmed that Jason Hirschhorn and Mike Jones, who reported to Van Natta, are becoming co-presidents.

This series of developments comes as a big surprise.  Just one week ago, rumor had it that Hirschhorn might leave MySpace due to tension with Van Natta.  But according to Kara Swisher, News Corp. Chief Digital Officer Jon Miller then became involved, and after talking to all three men, wound up sacking the CEO.

So let’s discuss MySpace’s new co-presidents.  Before becoming MySpace’s chief product officer, Hirschhorn filled executive positions at both Sling Media and MTV.  Jones founded Userplane prior to becoming MySpace’s chief operating officer, and also worked for AOL following an acquisition.

Both men have done well at MySpace, too.  Miller stated with respect to Van Natta’s semi-replacements (remember the difference in titles), "Mike and Jason have demonstrated true leadership in their operational and product guidance, respectively, and I have the utmost confidence in both of them to lead MySpace into its next chapter."

Hirschhorn and Jones said, "We joined MySpace last April with very a specific set of goals in mind, and are anxious to continue working together to make those goals a reality.  This business is now pointed in the right direction, and we have a great team of employees that will continue to push MySpace closer to its potential as the place where people go to be discovered and to discover great content."

A high-ranking MySpace executive might be ready to depart, according to a new report.  Rumor has it that Chief Product Officer Jason Hirschhorn, who’s been with the company for less than a year, is making his way towards the exit.

This story appears to deserve some heavy disclaimers; since it began to spread, Hirschhorn wrote on his MySpace page, "i love fiction," and classified his mood as "amused."

He also linked to a clip of Philip Seymour Hoffman lecturing about gossip (as Father Flynn in the movie Doubt) from both his MySpace and Twitter accounts.

Still, more than a few people have indicated that the exec is parting ways with MySpace.  Jason Kincaid, who’s generally quite reliable, reported last night, "Jason Hirschhorn will soon be leaving the company, we’ve heard from multiple sources."

Perhaps it’s just a later conjecture – "the real problem may have been a lack of chemistry between Hirschhorn and his fellow executives" – to which Hirschhorn objects.

Anyway, there’s no word on exactly when Hirschhorn could leave MySpace, or who will replace him as Chief Product Officer (a position reporting to CEO Owen Van Natta) if he does.

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When News Corp. acquired MySpace in 2005, it paid $580 million, and all sorts of large figures (the $900 million Google ad deal, for example) have been attached to the social network since.  However, it’s never had a chief financial officer, and this morning, MySpace changed that.

Mark Rosenbaum, the new CFO, does not appear to represent an afterthought.  He starts immediately, and will indeed be in charge of all of MySpace’s finance- and accounting-related operations.  He’ll also work out of MySpace’s headquarters and report straight to CEO Owen Van Natta.

Moreover, there’s his resume to consider.  Rosenbaum has worked for MGM, tvguide.com, Twentieth Century Fox, and the Walt Disney Company, which means he should have plenty of experience with big corporations and the online space.

Van Natta said in a statement, "Mark understands both startup culture and mature businesses, and is well suited to guide MySpace’s financial organization through its next phase of growth.  We’re thrilled to add someone with his pedigree and experience to the team."

That just leaves us to wonder about the timing of the development (and perhaps the phrase "next phase of growth").  It’s worth considering whether MySpace is up to something big, or if Rupert Murdoch simply decided to give someone else a try at squeezing money out of it.

The rate at which MySpace makes money may soon increase.  According to a fresh report, Wenda Harris Millard, who’s earned quite a reputation in the marketing industry, is set to try her hand at moving ad space.

Kara Swisher wrote earlier today, "[W]ell-known online advertising sales executive Wenda Harris Millard (pictured here) – who is now president of New York- and Los Angeles-based media consultancy, Media Link – is poised to take over all advertising sales at MySpace, sources said."

As for where Millard will fit into MySpace’s organizational structure, Swisher wrote that she "will apparently report to MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta directly. . . .  In turn, all regional advertising vice presidents at MySpace will report to her."

This development should represent quite a win for MySpace; doubters need only check an abbreviated bio.  Millard got her MBA from Harvard, was a founding member of DoubleClick’s executive team, and held high positions within Ziff Davis.  She’s also worked for Yahoo and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

Millard’s Media Link’s hiring may in fact be what Owen Van Natta referenced yesterday when he promised "continued news about great talent coming to MySpace."

UPDATE: It’s now become clear that Millard will work with MySpace as a representative of Media Link, which MySpace has hired, rather than as an individual.

A significant number of MySpace employees may soon have to acquire cardboard moving boxes and update their resumes.  Although nothing’s certain, there have been several indications that a large wave of layoffs will hit in the near future. 

Jason Kincaid received warnings from at least two different, and perhaps well-placed, individuals.  He reported afterward, "One source describes the number of people affected as ‘massive’, while another source says that the layoffs will likely affect between 300 and 500 employees."

Then there’s what Richard Greenfield, a Pali Research analyst, had to contribute.  According to Eric Savitz, this expert "thinks large cuts are inevitable."

And it would make a certain amount of sense for MySpace to streamline its operations, after all.  The economy’s still not booming, and negative statistics about online advertising are easy to find.  Plus, News Corp.’s stock hasn’t done well over the past year compared to either Microsoft’s or Google’s, so the move may satiate shareholders.

MySpace did, in case you’re curious, experience a 2.39 percent bump in unique visitors between April and May according to the latest Compete data.  Nine days ago, Nielsen put MySpace ahead of Facebook in terms of video, too.

MySpace’s first international hire is moving on.  Jay Stevens, who was one of the founding members of the MySpace UK team and more recently held the title "Senior Vice President of Audience," has left the social networking company for the advertising entity known as the Rubicon Project.

 

Stevens was on MySpace’s payroll for a little over three years, and his departure counts as a significant loss.  From a sort of symbolic standpoint, it must hurt MySpace to see him go considering the somewhat groundbreaking nature of his position.  The fact that MySpace brought him to L.A., where the Rubicon Project is based, is also bound to sting.

Anyway, Stevens is joining the Rubicon Project as Vice President and General Manager, International, and even if MySpace will miss him, the move sends positive signals about the online ad market.

Stevens said in a statement, "The Internet advertising industry is maturing and shifting to third party sales channels, and online advertising networks are becoming an increasingly prevalent and relevant part of the mix.  Display is on the upswing, brands are moving more money online, and publishers are looking for more efficient monetization strategies to squeeze as much revenue as possible from every last impression."

Meanwhile, MySpace is losing big-time to Facebook in the UK.