 "Pandora names ex-aQuantive head McAndrews as CEO")
Internet radio giant Pandora has named the former head of digital advertising company aQuantive, Brian McAndrews, as its new chief executive. McAndrews, 54, replaces outgoing CEO Joe Kennedy immediately.
After working at General Mills and ABC, McAndrews took small Seattle-based digital advertising agency Avenue A and grew it into aQuantive, the digital ad business that Microsoft bought for $6 billion in 2007. Pandora founder Tim Westergren said Wednesday that McAndrews was a strategic choice.
New CEO
“No one better understands the intersection of technology and advertising, which he clearly demonstrated during aQuantive’s meteoric rise,” Westergren said in a statement. McAndrews, who was named Advertising Age magazine’s Digital Executive of the Year in 2008, serves on the boards of The New York Times Co., Grubhub Seamless and AppNexus.
Oakland-based Pandora’s stock, which closed up 5 percent at $21.38 on Wednesday, jumped another $1.22, or 5.7 percent, to $22.60 in after-hours trading.
Associated Press