Gawker: valleywag, jason rapp

Founders Club partiers revel in the view from the top

Nicholas Carlson — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:00:00 EDT

HEARST TOWER, NEW YORK — Far from the sweaty, screaming fans that attended Digg's Brooklyn meetup Wednesday night, the suits of the Alley and Valley gathered last night on the top-most floor of the Hearst Tower for another Founders Club party to celebrate each others' transcendent splendor. All night, giant screens at either end of the party played clips from Citizen Kane, the barely fictionalized biopic based on the life of Hearst Corp.'s own founder, William Randolph Hearst. There wasn't a Hearst in the crowd, but there were those who aspire to be him. Blog moguls like PaidContent's Rafat Ali, Gawker Media's Nick Denton and AlleyCorp's Henry Blodget mingled. New Gifts.com CEO Jason Rapp attended, as did Digg cofounders Kevin Rose and Jay Adelson. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's mentor, Valley bad boy Sean Parker, was rumored to be in the crowd as well. Jimmy Wales, cofounder of the world's most comprehensive list of William Randolph Heart's angry responses to Citizen Kane, attended with Andrea Weckerle on his arm. Photos below.

(Photos by NewYorkInsider and NYFoundersClub)

IAC's Jason Rapp ends months of career purgatory at Gifts.com

Owen Thomas — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:20:00 EDT

Hail the survivor! We'd heard that IAC dealmaker Jason Rapp's career was on the rocks. Turns out it was just in a deep freeze. Rapp has been named CEO of minor IAC property Gifts.com. The holdup?

Legal wrangling over the splitup of Barry Diller's online conglomerate; a bitter spat between Diller and longtime backer John Malone of Liberty Media delayed the breakup. Gifts.com used to be run out of online retailer HSN, which is due to be separated; that left it headless, a good fit for the jobless. It's a good move for Rapp; we hear he'd been considering a junior position at Facebook, or running IAC's healthcare investments. Gifts.com may not be much — Compete.com lists its audience at below 1 millon, after a predictable spike in December — but at least Rapp gets a C-suite title.

More heads to roll at IAC?

Nicholas Carlson — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 09:25:18 EST

A tipster tells us to expect a "big shakeup at Ask.com," including "change in product lineup and company direction." The shakeup "could effect CA and NJ office, Lots of SVP, EVP, VP, CTO types that probably are redundant." It's a vague and poorly sourced rumor, but with IAC and its chairman Barry Diller already under siege, such a shakeup certainly is plausible. Especially since — judging by M&A exec Jason Rapp, who was recently transferred to unspecified new duties — it may have already begun.

IAC dealmaker's career founders on Digg

Owen Thomas — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:24:18 EST

Jason Rapp, one of Barry Diller's endless ranks of M&A execs, has lost his job. Or misplaced it, at the very least. A company press release says he'll get "management responsibilities in new growth areas" — but doesn't name them.

Rapp, described as "very sweet" by some who know him, had sticky fingers when it came to deals at the company — but he was so busy evaluating other people's acquisitions, he didn't seem to have time to land any plum deals. In particular, he kept bringing up Digg, despite a sky-high price that didn't fit Diller's bargain-bin predilections. Rapp now has to invent a new job for himself — more than a challenge, considering Liberty Media's attempt to take control of IAC. Not so sweet.

His M&A duties now go to Shana Fisher, also a senior vice president charged with M&A. But Fisher's been spending more time on IAC's online videogames venture, InstantAction.com. Perhaps Fisher and Rapp's moves reflect a reality: With the threat of Liberty hanging over IAC, it's next to impossible to get any deals done.