NY Times Co names 2 directors with digital expertise

By Peter Lauria

REUTERS - The New York Times Company on Thursday added to its board two directors with deep roots in the technology industry.

Brian McAndrews, a former Microsoft Corp executive, and Joichi Ito, an Internet entrepreneur and head of the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, were elected to the newspapers publishers' board, the company announced in a statement.

With the addition of McAndrews, 53, and Ito, 46, the Times Co board expands to 13 directors from 11.

"Joi Ito and Brian McAndrews bring deep digital experience to the board of the Times Company, which will be invaluable as we continue our digital transformation," said Chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr.

The appointment of the new directors coincides with a report from The Guardian newspaper in the U.K. earlier Thursday that said the Times Co was in discussions with outgoing BBC director general Mark Thompson about its vacant CEO post.

The company has been without a chief executive since Janet Robinson abruptly left at the end of last year.

A Times Co representative declined comment on The Guardian's report.

McAndrews most recently served as a partner at venture capital firm Madrona Venture Group. Before that, McAndrews did a 16-month stint as a senior vice president at Microsoft, landing at the software giant as part its $6 billion deal to buy online advertising company aQuantive in 2007.

In addition to MIT, Ito is also a respected entrepreneur and digital investor. He founded and serves as CEO of venture capital firm Neoteny Co and co-founded information technology company Digital Garage Inc. Ito was an early investor in popular digital media companies Flickr, Kickstarter, and Twitter.

(Reporting By Peter Lauria; editing by M.D. Golan)