Barry Briggs leaving CNET this week?

December 10, 2006

One of my predictions may finally be right.  When Neil Ashe was elevated to the CEO role at CNET I predicted that Barry Briggs would be looking to leave pretty quickly.  He was the COO, second-in-command, and yet had been passed over for the CEO job.  That must have felt like a slap in the face.

Well Valleywag has an item today that speculates Briggs’ departure will be announced sometime this week.  If true, at least Briggs had the decency to wait a couple months, let Ashe settle into his job, before getting the hell outta Dodge.

Now the rest of Valleywag’s post speculates that this latest executive departure increases the likelihood that CNET gets sold off piece-meal.  I don’t see the connection, just because you lose one key executive does not imply the company is in full-blown implosion mode.

Look at HP–few years ago Fiorina was forced out but HP today is stronger than ever.  Losing one or two people at the top is not a death knell by any means.  It can in fact be a catalyst for renewed growth, if the exec in question was less than exemplary.

Now I”m not saying Briggs is such an exec.  I don’t think he was CEO material but as COO I thought he got the job done.  He executed the strategy of the company, it’s hardly his fault the strategy wasn’t that great.

Will be interesting to see where he lands.  I rather doubt he’ll land a CEO gig.  I’m guessing the soon-to-be-former COO at Yahoo, Dan Rosensweig, will be a hotter commodity among the corporate head-hunters than Barry Briggs.  Still I’m sure Briggs will find some kind of senior exec role somewhere.