MySpace may trim down to win suitors

Reports surfaced on Friday that faded social networking star MySpace may cut more staff to be attractive to suitors.

A Wall Street Journal report cited unnamed sources as indicating News Corp. might make MySpace leaner for potential buyers including music video service Vevo, China-based Internet company Tencent, and private equity firms.

News Corp. has had MySpace sale talks with those companies and with Chris DeWolfe, a founder of the online social networking pioneer added to Rupert Murdoch's media empire in 2005 for $580 million, according to the Journal.

News Corp. owns the Journal.

News Corp. revealed in January that it was exploring a sale or other "strategic options" for MySpace, the ailing social network which has been eclipsed by Facebook.

News Corp. chief operating officer Chase Carey put MySpace on notice in November saying the losses at the social network were "unsustainable."

Facebook has grown to more than 500 million members while MySpace's numbers have dwindled. Early this year, MySpace cut some 500 jobs, nearly half its staff.

(c) 2011 AFP