The New York Times Co has tapped Mark Thompson as its next president and chief executive, capping an eight-month search for an executive to lead the company as more people get their news through digital products.
Thompson, 55, will report to the New York Times board of directors and to its chairman, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., starting in November, the company said on Tuesday.
Thompson will lead the company, publisher of its namesake newspaper and the Boston Globe, during unprecedented challenges facing newspapers as advertisers place their dollars elsewhere and readers favor smartphones and tablets over the printed page.
Thompson was most recently BBC director general. He announced in March that he was leaving the BBC after the London Olympics.
"Our board concluded that Mark's experience and his accomplishments at the BBC made him the ideal candidate to lead the Times Company at this moment in time when we are highly focused on growing our business through digital and global expansion," said Sulzberger in a statement.
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