(Updates with Colvin's replacement named.)
Stephen Colvin is jumping ship from Newsweek to join Lerer Ventures, the venture capital firm said Wednesday.
Colvin will be an executive-in-residence at the company, advising Huffington Post co-founder Ken Lerer on his portfolio of technology investments. He had served as the CEO of The Newsweek Daily Beast Company, and his move does not augur well for the money-losing media outlet.
However, the company quickly announced a replacement for the departing chief. Ad executive Baba Shetty will become the new CEO. He was previously chief strategy and chief media officer at Boston-based Hill Holliday.
In July, news broke that the family of the late Sidney Harman has stopped ponying up cash for Newsweek Daily Beast, leaving Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp in control as the weekly news periodical struggled to adjust to the digital age. The publication is believed to be on track to lose $30 million this year, more than it was losing when Diller's Daily Beast merged with Newsweek in November 2010. Diller has said that he will not continue to fund the magazine at the current rate of losses.
Also read: Barry Diller's IAC Takes Control of Newsweek Daily Beast
One insider told TheWrap that Diller will make a decision about Newsweek within the next few months.
Lerer is very much in expansion mode. Last week, the firm announced the launch of a new digital video network called NowThis News, which boasts an all-star editorial team filled with veterans of old media titans like CNN and ABC News.
Eason Jordan, a former CNN chief news executive, will be the company's general manager. Ed O’Keefe, a former ABC News digital executive producer, will be its editor-in-chief.
"I am delighted to be joining Lerer Ventures, which has a tremendous portfolio of companies and is led by team renowned for its vision, execution and innovation," Colvin said in a statement. "I look forward to rolling up my sleeves and working with them on their many exciting initiatives.”
In addition to his stint at Newsweek Daily Beast, Colvin was previously executive vice president at CNET Networks/CBS interactive and was president and CEO of Dennis Publishing.