Murdoch man to head Google Australia-NZ
Search giant raids News Corp's ranks for a new managing director.
Google has appointed Nick Leeder as its new Australia-New Zealand managing director, based in Sydney.
Mr Leeder (41) is deputy chief executive of The Australian, a News Corporation paper.
The former McKinsey consultant joined News Corp from Fairfax in 2006.
News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch has been outspoken in his view that Google is a "parasite" that “steals” mainstream media content by aggregating news links.
Mr Leeder will begin his new role at the end of March.
The Murdoch man replaces Karim Temsamani, who has taken a new role overseeing mobile ad sales at Google’s California headquarters.
"Nick joins Google at an exciting time for our business and for the digital economy in Australia and New Zealand," Google Asia-Pacific and Japan president Daniel Alegre said in a statement.
"Google is investing significantly in Australia and New Zealand to help businesses of all sizes, from small and large advertisers to advertising agencies and publishers, grow online.
"In the next year, Nick will help us to increase our investment locally and better serve our users, advertisers, and partners."
John Hartigan, News chairman and chief executive, paid tribute to Mr Leeder for his contribution to The Australian.
"Together with Richard [Richard Freudenstein, The Australian chief executive] he tripled traffic and revenue at News Digital Media and over the past twelve months has brought new focus and drive to The Australian’s commercial operations," Mr Hartigan said in a statement.
NBR staff
Wed, 26 Jan 2011
Wed, 26 Jan 2011
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Murdoch man to head Google Australia-NZ
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