Greg Stuart to Search for Greener CEO Pastures
The Interactive Advertising Bureau CEO will step down at the end of the year following a five-year stint heading the trade group.
Greg Stuart is stepping down as CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau at the end of the year.
When Stuart took the IAB helm in late 2001, the trade group was struggling for relevance in a sector that had already seen its share of ups and downs. Now, according to the IAB’s SVP and General Manager, Sheryl Draizen, Stuart will be pursuing a CEO position elsewhere. “He wants to go back into the private sector,” Draizen told ClickZ News. Stuart has nothing lined up at the moment, she added.
Draizen stressed the group will continue along the path it has set for this and next year, despite the CEO shift. “It’s going to be business as usual for us at the IAB. We’ll remain focused on all of the initiatives we have for 2006 and 2007.”
An IAB recruiting committee is on the lookout for a new CEO with the help of executive search firm Spencer Stuart. “We’re taking input from the IAB executive committee as well as the full board and external individuals to define a job description,” commented Draizen, who didn’t go into further detail regarding how or if the CEO role might change with that new person.
The group hadn’t heard from replacement hopefuls immediately following the announcement; however, Draizen expected much interest from people wanting to fill Stuart’s shoes. “Certainly the [interactive advertising] industry is a great place to work and the IAB is at the forefront of the industry,” she said.
Stuart took over for the IAB’s first CEO Robin Webster in October 2001. In less than two years following Stuart’s takeover, the association had grown from a staff of two with a $1.3 million budget to a staff of 13 with $5 million in its coffers, and membership went from 35 to 160 in that time. Today, the IAB expects 2006 revenues to hit $16 billion. The IAB was founded ten years ago and today counts over 250 companies among its members.
