MySpace, My Job!

Image via CrunchBase

Social networking Web site MySpace, still reeling from a drop-off in ad revenues and by being dethroned by rival Facebook as the social networking site with the most worldwide users, will ax two-thirds of its international workforce, or 300 jobs.

Last week, MySpace laid off 400 employees in the U.S., so combined, has pared its total workforce by nearly 40 percent. About 150 international workers remain, along with approximately 1000 domestic employees. MySpace, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., Inc., hired former Facebook executive Owen Van Natta in April 2009, to run the company. MySpace reportedly will close at least four offices outside the U.S. and will center its foreign operations around London, Berlin and Sydney.

Murdoch paid $580 million for MySpace in 2005. Its ad revenues have been forecast to decline by 15 percent this year, while Facebook revenues are expected to climb 10 percent. Although lagging among international users, MySpace still attracts more users in the U.S. than Facebook, though demographically, it is bleeding older visitors and becoming the domain of rock bands. Since its inception, MySpace has been targeted to a wider audience, whereas Facebook originally was founded by Harvard students and formed for a more private community of Harvard students.

News Corp. reported an $89 million loss for the most recent quarter in the division that encompasses MySpace. News Corp. stock today is trading at $8.96 a share, down almost 44 percent in value over 52 weeks.