Andy Forssell will take over the position of CEO at online video company Hulu later this month, following the long-expected departure of the company’s current chief executive Jason Kilar which will occur later this month.
The succession plan was announced today in an internal memo from Kilar to Hulu staffers that was subsequently made public on Hulu’s official blog.
Forssell has worked at Hulu since 2007, and currently serves as the company’s Senior Vice President of Content. According to his official bio, Forssell earned a BS with honors in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, a BS in Russian studies from the United States Military Academy, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. His career began with the United States Army.
The memo indicates that Forssell will serve as Hulu’s “acting” CEO, and has not yet finalized who will fill in the role permanently. TechCrunch is hearing that the person who ultimately gets that position could very well be an outsider, depending on the ongoing News Corp. discussions.
We’ll update this with more detail, but for now here is the memo from Kilar announcing Forssell’s appointment in full:
Team –
As you all know, I will be departing Hulu at the end of this quarter. I wanted to share the news that Andy Forssell will be stepping up to lead Hulu as acting CEO after I depart later this month. You know Andy well; he’s been a critical senior executive and has been here from the start of this great adventure. Andy exemplifies the Hulu culture and has been central to Hulu’s journey, helping to grow this company from 2 content partners and no revenue to over 450 content partners and approximately $700 million revenue in 2012. In his role, Andy has built strong relationships with many of our Board members. Andy has the Board’s strong support in leading the team during this important time.
Disney and News Corporation are currently finalizing their forward-looking plans with Hulu, and the senior team has been working closely with them in that process. Once the plans are finalized, a permanent decision will be made regarding the CEO position.
As I mentioned to you all at the beginning of this year, Hulu’s focus remains on delivering a fantastic 2013 for customers and shareholders. Hulu is well on its way, with new records being set in Q1 across both revenue and subscriber additions. The unwavering focus on delighting Hulu’s customers is clearly showing up in the outputs of the business.
Jason’