Alibaba Group Appoints Leader for Intellectual Property Enforcement; Appoints MDs for Germany and France

Alibaba Group appointed Matthew Bassiur as VP, Head of Global Intellectual Property Enforcement, to advance Alibaba Group’s anti-counterfeiting and IP rights protection efforts. Bassiur joins Alibaba from Pfizer, where he served as the VP and Deputy Chief Security Officer.

Alibaba also appointed Terry von Bibra as managing director of Alibaba Group Germany and Sébastien Badault as managing director of Alibaba Group France.

Terry von Bibra brings a wealth of experience in the global omnichannel and e-commerce retail sector to this new role. Prior to joining Alibaba, he was Chief Retail Officer Omnichannel for German department store chain Karstadt. He previously played a pivotal role in establishing Amazon in Europe and held multiple roles within Yahoo!, including Managing Director of Yahoo! Germany, VP of Central Europe and VP Marketplaces for Yahoo! EMEA.

Sébastien Badault has been running French operations for international online and e-commerce brands for the past 15 years. As one of the first employees for both Amazon France and Google France, Sébastien drove sales and marketing teams to build local market share and enhance the online ecosystems for each organization. Most recently, he was responsible for the development of Google’s strategic customers in Southern Europe, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa as Global Account Director.

PayPal Co-Founder Max Levchin Steps Down From Yahoo! Board; Company Loses Ad Product Chief

Max Levchin, 40, notified Yahoo! that he was resigning from Yahoo's Board of Directors. Levchin is resigning due to his other professional commitments and demands on his time.

Another major Yahoo exec, SVP, Product & Engineering, Advertising Products Prashant Fuloria, is exiting his job. Enrique Munoz Torres will now oversee all advertiser-facing products for Yahoo, including both the Gemini and BrightRoll platforms.

TD Ameritrade Appoints New Female Board Members with Finance Backgrounds

Online broker TD Ameritrade Holding announced two new appointments to its board of directors. Irene Miller, 63, the CEO of Akim, and the former vice-chairman and CFO of Barnes & Noble, joins the board. She previously held senior banking and corporate finance positions with Morgan Stanley & Co. and Rothchild.

Ann Hailey, 64, will join the TD Ameritrade board. Hailey has accumulated more than 30 years of finance, retail and operations expertise through executive leadership positions at companies such as Mobil Oil Corporation, Pepsico, Duggan Consulting Associates, Nabisco Holdings Group, Pillsbury Company, Limited Brands and Gilt Groupe. She most recently served as president, CEO and CFO of Famous Yard Sale.

Additionally, the board has elected Todd Ricketts, who the Ricketts family previously nominated to serve on the board, to continue to serve as an Independent Director after the family's rights under the stockholder agreement. Todd joined the TD Ameritrade board of directors in 2015.

Twitter Appoints Diversity & Inclusion VP from Apple

Jeffrey Siminoff, Apple’s director of worldwide inclusion and diversity, is joining as VP Diversity & Inclusion at Twitter. Siminoff had been working on Apples diversity efforts since September 2013 after jobs at Morgan Stanley and the law firm Riker Danzig Scherer Hyland & Perretti. He takes over for Janet Van Huysse, who led Twitters diversity efforts, but is leaving the tech firm after six years.

Worldpay Group’s New Director is Influential Leader in Financial Services

UK based payments processing technology company Worldpay Group has appointed Deanna Oppenheimer, 57, as an independent non-executive director. Deanna is currently a non-executive director of Tesco, Tesco Bank, AXA Group, and NCR Corporation. Additionally, she is a senior advisor to Bain & Company. She most recently served as vice chair, Global Retail Banking at Barclays, where she was also CEO of UK and Western Europe Retail Banking.     

58.com Co-CEO to Lead the Spin-off as Chair/CEO

58.com, online marketplace serving local merchants and consumers in China, announced its plan to spin off Guazi.com. Mark Haoyong Yang, the founder, former Chairman and CEO of Ganji.com, will serve as Chairman and CEO of Guazi and has resigned from his position as the co-CEO of 58.com, but will remain the co-Chairman of 58.com's board of directors. The Spin-off is expected to be completed in the near future.

Accel Partner Resigns from the Board of IAC/InterActiveCorp

Sonali De Rycker, 41, informed IAC/InterActiveCorp, the media and Internet company, that she was resigning from the company's Board of Directors. De Rycker has been a Partner of Accel Partners since 2008. She focuses on Consumer Internet, E-commerce, Digital Media, and Software. Prior to her tenure at Accel, she was a Partner at Atlas Venture in London from 2000 to 2008, where she focused on investments in the internet and software service sectors.

Couple of Renren Board Members Step Down

Matthew Nimetz, 76, and Katsumasa Niki, 47, resigned as directors of Renren, the social networking Internet platform in China. Nimetz is the former Managing Director and COO of General Atlantic. Niki serves as General Manager of Corporate Strategy & Development Department and Corporate Officer at SOFTBANK CORP.

AOL President to Leave

AOL President Bob Lord, 52, plans to leave the company. Lord, who joined AOL in July 2013 as the head of AOL Networks, has helped steer the company toward embracing programmatic, or automated, advertising technology. Prior to joining AOL, Lord logged more than a decade in the digital agency world, most recently as CEO at Publicis Groupe’s Razorfish.

Match Group Announces Series of Senior Management Shuffles

Match Group, a digital spinoff of IAC that owns properties like Tinder and OKCupid, announced a series of senior management appointments to more effectively manage the business and drive global growth. Greg Blatt, Chairman of Match Group, will become Chairman and CEO of the company.

Sam Yagan, currently CEO of Match Group, will join the Match Group Board. He will serve as Vice Chairman, a non-executive position that will encompass his service on the Match Group Board, his continuing service on the Tinder Board, and an ongoing advisory relationship with the company.

Ann L. McDaniel, 59, was elected to the Board of Directors. McDaniel has served as SVP of Graham Holdings Company since June 2008. Prior to that time, McDaniel served as VP-HR of Graham Holdings Company since September 2001.

Mandy Ginsberg, currently CEO of Match Group subsidiary The Princeton Review (and formerly CEO of Match.com U.S.), will become CEO of Match Group North America. Ginsberg will be responsible for the Match U.S. brand, Match Affinity Brands, OkCupid, PlentyOfFish, and overall North American expansion.

Alexandre Lubot, currently CEO of Meetic, will become CEO of Match Group Europe, responsible for Meetic, Twoo and other European brands, focused on the further expansion of Match Group businesses within the region.

Navin Ramachandran, COO of Match Group, will become CEO of Match Group Asia/Latin America, responsible for Pairs, Couples, ParPerfeito, Match Asia, and further expansion within these regions. Ramachandran will also retain his duties as COO of Match Group.

Kate Walker, currently CFO of The Princeton Review, will become CEO of The Princeton Review.

Sharmistha (Shar) Dubey, currently Chief Product Officer of The Princeton Review (and formerly Chief Product Officer of Match.com U.S.), will become President of Match Group North America.

Hesam Hosseini, currently General Manager, Emerging Brands, will become General Manager of PlentyOfFish.

GrubHub Announces Board Changes          

J. William Gurley CFA, 48, notified the GrubHub Board that he would resign from the Board, effective upon Katrina Lake's appointment to the Board. In addition, the Board appointed Katrina Lake as a director. Lake is the CEO and founder of Stitch Fix.

Gurley has been the General Partner and Partner at Benchmark Capital, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, for more than 15 years.

Shutterfly CEO and COO Step Down

Shutterfly CEO Jeff Housenbold, 46, announces his intentions to step down in February 2016. The Board has hired Spencer Stuart to assist the search committee in hiring the new CEO.

Daniel McCormick, 49, to resign from his role as Shutterfly’s SVP and COO of the Company and as an employee of the Company.

Travelport Witnesses CFO Replacement

Travel commerce platform Travelport appointed Bernard Bot as EVP and CFO. Bot joins Travelport from Aer Lingus Plc, where, as the airline's CFO, he played an instrumental role in completing the recent €1.4 billion takeover by IAG (International Airlines Group), the parent group of both British Airways and Iberia.

Bot will replace CFO, Philip Emery, who will be taking a break in his career to spend more time with his family, and the two will work together during the first few months of 2016 to ensure a smooth handover of duties. Emery will also continue in his role as a board member of Travelport controlled subsidiaries, eNett and Locomote, until he leaves the company in 2016.

Shutterstock Appoints Chief People Officer from MediaMath

Shutterstock, the global marketplace for commercial digital content, named Peter Phelan as Chief People Officer. Phelan joins Shutterstock with more than 20 years of people management experience, most recently serving as Chief People Officer of MediaMath. Earlier in his career, he held senior HR positions at Bloomberg and business units within Publicis Groupe and WPP.

XO Group CFO Joins Board of Monster Worldwide 

Monster Worldwide appointed Gillian Munson, 44, CFO, XO Group, to its board of directors. Munson was Research Analyst at Morgan Stanley, Research Division.

TrueCar Apponts Former AutoTrader.com CEO as President/CEO

Automotive pricing and information website TrueCar announced that Chip Perry, an online automotive pioneer and long-time industry leader, will become the company’s president and CEO. Most recently, he has been president and CEO of Atlanta-based RentPath, parent company of ApartmentGuide.com and Rent.com. Perry was the first employee of AutoTrader.com in 1997 and served as its CEO from the company’s inception until 2013.

As previously announced, Scott Painter, TrueCar’s founder, has stepped down as CEO and also resigned from his positions as TrueCar’s chairman and as a member of the company’s board.

RetailMeNot Appoints New CFO, Administration SVP and General Counsel

RetailMeNot, that maintains a collection of coupon websites, has been appointed J. Scott Di Valerio, 52, as its CFO. Di Valerio, most recently served as CEO at Outerwall. 

The Company also announced that Louis J. Agnese, III, 37, formerly the Company’s interim CFO since November 2014, has been appointed as the Company’s SVP, Administration. Agnese served as the Company’s General Counsel since October 2011, and he also served as the Company’s Secretary from December 2011 until August 2015.

Jonathan B. Kaplan has been appointed as the Company’s General Counsel and Secretary.

Investor Firm Benchmark Capital’s Partner Resigns from Zillow Board

J. William Gurley CFA, 48, resigned from the Board of Directors of Zillow Group. Gurley has been the General Partner and Partner at Benchmark Capital, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, for more than 15 years.

Online Lender Upstart Taps Uber Marketing Exec for CMO Job

Uber’s growth marketing chief Mike Osborn is the new CMO of Upstart, the consumer lending startup founded and led by ex-Google enterprise chief Dave Girouard. Before Uber, Osborn was the SVP of marketing at the home-rental company HomeAway, both before and after its 2011 IPO. Previously he worked for eBay and Metaweb, a startup that was acquired by Google.

Date Range: November 21st, 2015 - January 6th, 2016