CDNOW’S OLIM UP, UP & AWAY
Olim Named Chairman
Jason Olim is going to have a lot more time to play guitar.
The CDNow founder was kicked upstairs to become Chairman of the Board and Senior Advisor for Music Strategy by company owners Bertelsmann eCommerce Group, who named the company's COO Michael S. Krupit President/CEO. Both will report directly to the Board of Directors of CDNow.
CDNow was merged with BeCG, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bertelsmann, Inc., created for their Internet ventures last September.
BeCG President/CEO Andreas Schmidt put aside his wienerschnitzel and Lowenbrau, hitched up his lederhausen and said: "We're delighted to have Mike Krupit as President/CEO of CDNow as we move forward. His expertise and experience at CDNow will greatly assist us in our efforts as we continue to integrate CDNow into our larger e-community, content and commerce initiatives and position it as an important platform in the digital revolution.
"I'm also delighted to have Jason as a senior advisor on BeCG on music strategy. He brings to BeCG outstanding vision, a far-reaching knowledge of the online retail customer and he's teaching me the chords to ‘Third Stone From The Sun.'"
Krupit joined CDNow in '97 as Director of Technology, then was upped to VP Technology. Chief Development Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Holder of Jason's Guitar Pick.
Olim co-founded the company with his brother Matthew in their parents' basement in 1994 to "get free beers and meet cool chicks." The site now attracts 700,000 music lovers a day.
