AOL Appoints Karen Dykstra as CFO

Internet publishing business AOL, which owns the Huffington Post and TechCrunch, has appointed Karen Dykstra as chief financial officer (CFO) and also named Hugh Johnston, PepsiCo’s executive vice president (EVP) and CFO, as a director.

Dykstra, who has served as a board member since 2009, replaces Arthur Minson, who was promoted to chief operating officer (COO) in June to reorganise AOL’s operations. She will no longer remain on the board, said the company, which added that Johnson will bring consumer retail expertise to his role as director. 

AOL added that Dykstra, a former partner at hedge fund Plainfield Asset Management from 2006 to 2010 where she held various roles, including CFO and COO, will also serve as a key member of the executive team in addition to her new position of CFO.

In response to a slump in sales earlier this year, AOL agreed in April to sell and licence patents to Microsoft, which will receive more than 800 patents and related applications from the company. AOL announced stock buyback agreements and a special cash dividend last month as part of its steps to return about US$1.1bn to shareholders. The move has helped to lift AOL’s stock price, which has more than doubled this year.

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