By Kevin McCauley
Neil Ashe, who was president of CBS Interactive, took the president post of Wal-Mart Stores global e-commerce venture on Jan. 16. He succeeded retiring Eduardo Castro-Wright, who will help in the transition period.
From his post in San Francisco, Ashe, 44, was responsible for CBS.com, CNET.com, CBS.News.com and CBS.Sports.com units of the broadcast company.
He helmed CNET and guiding its growth in China, which helped grow the company from a $100M entity to $1.8B operation prior to its acquisition by CBS.
Mike Duke, Wal-Mart CEO, said in a statement that Ashe has “strong personal leadership skills, financial background and experience in successfully working within a major corporation to lead its Internet division.”
He believes Wal-Mart is the “best- positioned retailer to deliver this multi-channel experience to consumers, many of whom are already connected to the world through smart phones and social media.”
Wal-Mart has stepped up its global e-commerce push in Brazil and China, where it acquired a stake in Chinese Internet retailer, Yihaodian.
Ashe sees the opportunity to develop Wal-Mart’s web/smart phone offerings to “bring savings to many more people around the world.” |