AOL Taps CFO Minson for COO Role

AOL (NYSE:AOL) named current chief financial officer Artie Minson to the role of chief operating officer on Friday and said it has begun a hunt for a new CFO.

In his new role, Minson will oversee three operating units, including the company’s membership, content brands and Advertising.com groups. He will continue in his CFO role until a replacement is found and will continue to report to AOL chief executive Tim Armstrong.

The media conglomerate says it is “actively interviewing replacement candidates.”

Armstrong touted Minson’s accomplishments as CFO, calling him a world-class leader and saying that he “significantly improved” AOL’s balance sheet, cost structure and tax profile.

“He has played and will continue to play a critical role in our capital allocation process as we continue to ensure that our resources are being allocated to the areas where we see the greatest opportunities for returns for our shareholders,” Armstrong said.

As CFO, he had already been taking on a number of operating roles, including oversight of subscriptions, search, mail, mobile and the AOL content operations. The company said that under his leadership, the trends in those businesses improved.

Of the businesses he will oversee, the membership group includes the teams that serve AOL account holders, while content brands includes its portfolio of brands and the advertising group includes its business-to-business services such as Adtech, Pictela and GoViral.

AOL says it has started to detail plans to drive profitability at these units and expects to complete the process by the end of the year.