NEW YORK, June 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Martha Stewart Living
Omnimedia, Inc. (NYSE: MSO) today announced it has nominated four new board
members for election to the Board of Directors at the Company's annual
stockholders' meeting on June 21, 2004. Their election would expand the board
to nine members from its current five.
The proposed new board members are: Rick Boyko, Managing Director of the
Virginia Commonwealth University Adcenter and former Co-President and Chief
Creative Officer of Ogilvy & Mather; Michael Goldstein, Former Chairman and
CEO of Toys "R" Us; Susan Lyne, former President of ABC Entertainment; and
Wenda Harris Millard, Chief Sales Officer of Yahoo! Inc. The Nominating
Committee of the Company's Board of Directors, with the input of Martha
Stewart, MSO's Founding Editorial Director and majority shareholder,
identified these qualified candidates.
"We are delighted to nominate four highly qualified board candidates with
diverse backgrounds and proven track records in each of their areas of
expertise," said Jeffrey W. Ubben, Chairman of MSO. "Each executive brings
unique skills, and we know that their combined expertise will contribute to
the continued development and long-term growth of MSO," Mr. Ubben added.
MSO President and CEO Sharon Patrick stated: "MSO is extremely pleased to
have attracted this slate of high caliber, proven executives who bring
extensive experience in our core business disciplines -- publishing,
television, merchandising and internet/direct commerce, advertising sales and
brand stewardship. We look forward to benefiting from their contributions as
we work together to build long-term shareholder value."
Rick Boyko currently serves as the Managing Director of the VCU Adcenter,
a graduate program in advertising at Virginia Commonwealth University. Mr.
Boyko was previously Co-President and Chief Creative Officer of Ogilvy &
Mather, Inc. New York from 1997 to 2003. In 1998, Mr. Boyko became the Chief
Creative Officer of the North American region. Prior to this appointment, he
held various executive creative positions since joining Ogilvy & Mather
Worldwide, Inc. in 1989. Mr. Boyko has also held creative positions at other
ad agencies, including Leo Burnett in Chicago and Chiat/Day in Los Angeles.
Michael Goldstein served as Chairman of the Board of Toys "R" Us, Inc.
from 1998 to 2001, as Vice Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
from 1994 to 1998, and as acting Chief Executive Officer from August 1999 to
January 14, 2000. Previously, he was Senior Executive Vice President of
Operations and Finance for Lerner Stores and a partner at Ernst & Young. Since
2001, Mr. Goldstein has been Chairman of the Toys "R" Us Children's Fund,
Inc., a charitable foundation.
Susan Lyne was most recently the President of ABC Entertainment from
January 2002 to May 2004, responsible for development and management of ABC's
Primetime schedule. Ms. Lyne held various other executive positions, including
Executive Vice President of Movies and Miniseries, since joining the network
in 1998. From 1996 to 1998, Ms. Lyne was Executive Vice President of Walt
Disney Pictures and Television, Inc., where she developed films for Disney's
feature and television divisions. Before joining Disney, Ms. Lyne created and
oversaw the launch of Premiere: The Movie Magazine, where she served as
Editor-in-Chief and created a leading industry publication.
Wenda Harris Millard has been Chief Sales Officer of Yahoo! Inc. since
2001. In this position, she is responsible for the company's advertising and
marketing services initiatives in North America. From 2000 to 2001, Ms.
Millard was Chief Internet Officer at Ziff Davis Media and President of Ziff
Davis Internet. Before joining Ziff Davis, Ms. Millard was Executive Vice
President and a founding member of DoubleClick from 1996 to 2000, overseeing
DoubleClick Media and leading its ad sales organization. Ms. Millard also has
extensive experience in publishing, holding executive positions at
organizations including SRDS; Family Circle; VNU's Adweek, Mediaweek and
Brandweek; and sales and management positions at Working Woman Ventures, Inc.;
New York Magazine and Ladies' Home Journal.
The Company's current board members -- Arthur C. Martinez, former Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer of Sears Roebuck; Sharon L. Patrick, President and
CEO of MSO; Thomas C. Siekman, formerly Of Counsel to Skadden, Arps, Slate,
Meagher & Flom LLP and former Senior Vice President and General Counsel of
Compaq Computer Corporation; Bradley E. Singer, Chief Financial Officer and
Treasurer of American Tower Corporation; and Jeffrey W. Ubben, a founder and
Managing Partner of VA Partners, L.L.C. -- stand for re-election.
These new nominations are listed in MSO's proxy statement, which will be
filed with the SEC and available on the company's website,
http://www.marthastewart.com, under the "Investor Relations" section.
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (MSO) is a leading provider of
original how-to information that turns dreamers into doers, inspiring and
engaging consumers with unique content and high-quality products for the home.
MSO's creative experts develop content within eight core areas -- Home,
Cooking and Entertaining, Gardening, Crafts, Holiday, Keeping, Weddings, and
Baby and Kids -- that provide consumers with ideas and products to celebrate
their homes and the domestic arts. MSO is organized into four business
segments -- Publishing, Television, Merchandising and Internet/Direct
Commerce.
This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements," as that
term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
forward-looking statements are not historical facts but instead represent only
our current beliefs regarding future events, many of which, by their nature,
are inherently uncertain and outside of our control. These statements can be
identified by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "could," "expects,"
"intends," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "potential" or
"continue" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. The
Company's actual results may differ materially from those projected in these
statements, and factors that could cause such differences include further
adverse reaction to the prolonged and continued negative publicity relating to
Martha Stewart by consumers, advertisers and business partners; further
adverse reaction by the Company's consumers, advertisers and business partners
to the outcome of Ms. Stewart's trial arising from a sale of non-Company stock
by Ms. Stewart; a loss of the services of Ms. Stewart; a loss of the services
of other key personnel; an adverse resolution to the SEC enforcement
proceeding currently underway against Ms. Stewart arising from her personal
sale of non-Company stock; adverse resolution of some or all of the Company's
ongoing litigation; downturns in national and/or local economies; shifts in
our business strategies; a softening of the domestic advertising market;
changes in consumer reading, purchasing and/or television viewing patterns;
unanticipated increases in paper, postage or printing costs; operational or
financial problems at any of our contractual business partners; the
receptivity of consumers to our new product introductions; and changes in
government regulations affecting the Company's industries. Certain of these
and other factors are discussed in more detail in the Company's filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, especially under the heading
"Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations", which may be accessed through the SEC's World Wide Web site at
http://www.sec.gov. The Company is under no obligation to update any
forward-looking statements after the date of this release.
SOURCE Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.
/CONTACT: Investors - Howard Hochhauser, VP Finance and Investor
Relations, +1-212-827-8530, or Media - Elizabeth Estroff, AVP, Corporate
Communications, +1-212-827-8281, both of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia,
Inc./
/Web site: http://www.marthastewart.com /
(MSO)
