BizSugar.com › Products and Services › MySpace Sacks Half Its Staff After NewsCorp Sale

Myspace laid off more than half of its staff of 450 employees Wednesday in the wake of the social networking site's sale by News Corporation to ad-targeting firm Specific Media, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.An earlier report from TechCrunch published before the Specific Media deal was announced indicated that Myspace's layoffs would only number about 150 people, or 37.5 percent of staff.The Myspace Wikipedia page currently lists its headcount erroneously at just 50 employees."There are many synergies between our companies as we are both focused on enhancing digital media experiences by fuelling connections with relevance and interest," Specific Media CEO Tim Vanderhook said in a press release announcing the deal. "We look forward to combining our platforms to drive the next generation of digital innovation."Myspace, with sinking ad revenues and a reported 30 million users and falling, was generally regarded as the most popular social networking site from the middle of 2006 to early 2008, when it was overtaken by Facebook. Just two years ago, Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Myspace (then known as MySpace) employed about 1,400 people.