Industry Moves: Playboy's Media President Bob Meyers Resigns; Interim CEO Kern Adds Extra Duties
This story was written by David Kaplan.
Playboy interim CEO Jerry Kern will be taking on the duties handled by Bob Meyers, who is resigning as president of media for Playboy Enterprises (NYSE: PLA). Meyers' last day will be April 16. The 53-year-old Meyers, who helped manage the company's long-planned digital overhaul in January, has held his post for nearly three years. In general, he was charged with handling global creation and distribution across print, digital and television. During his 30-year media career, he spent 19 years at NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) and eight years at Viacom (NYSE: VIA). The company doesn't expect to name a replacement for Meyers anytime soon.
No reason was given for Meyers' departure. But it comes at time when Playboy is facing particular turmoil. The company is still searching for a permanent CEO to replace Christie Hefner, whose exit was announced in December. In February, Chris Petrovic handed in his resignation as Playboy's VP of digital. A month before that, Playboy closed its New York office and cut roughly 40 jobs.
By David Kaplan