Monday, August 11, 2014
Demand Media Buys Saatchi Art, Appoints Sean Moriarty As CEO
Santa Monica-based Demand Media made a surprise move this morning, saying it has appointed former Ticketmaster CEO Sean Moriarty as its new CEO--and also acquiring Moriarty's startup, Saatchi Art. According to Demand Media, it paid $17M for Saatchi Art, in a mix of cash and stock, in a deal which will add revenues of $0.5M to $1M per quarter to the company. Moriarty is an active advisor in the Los Angeles technology startup community, and serves on the board of Eventbrite, Metacloud, and TuneIn. He also has served at IAC/Citysearch, prior to headin gup Ticketmaster. Demand Media co-founder and current Interim CEO Shawn Colo becomes President of the company, and also joins Demand Media's board.