With Facebook stepping up its courtship of the media business, the buzz is building that Mark Zuckerberg is eyeing Hulu chief Jason Kilar for a top job.
Sources say that Zuck “likes” Kilar, a well-respected Internet executive with deep ties to big media players, and has designs on him for a senior role.
Despite Facebook’s bungled initial public offering in May, Zuckerberg is on the list of attendees at this year’s media mogulfest.
It’s no secret that the social network is looking to gin up interest among big media.
Facebook clearly harbors content ambitions and could become a destination where people consume as well as talk about movies, music and TV shows.
The social network is also eager to prove its worth to Madison Avenue and is looking to attract online video advertising. Few know better than Kilar what’s involved.
As a pioneer in Internet TV, Kilar has faced a hard balancing act between delivering a good user experience and dealing with pressure from Hulu’s media owners to ramp up the money machine.
Hulu is backed by ABC, NBC and Fox. (News Corp. owns Fox and The Post.)
Facebook is also in talks with the record companies about taking a stake in music-video hub Vevo as part of a broader ad partnership.
“All of a sudden Facebook has loosened up on content plays. I would hire him,” said one veteran Internet exec. “The other part of content is they could distribute movies if they wanted to.”
Kilar, a former Amazon executive, doused speculation last week that he was in the running to lead Yahoo!, saying he was “graciously declining to be considered.”
Kilar could update his status to “available” now that his contract has expired with Hulu, although that doesn’t mean he won’t renew his deal, sources said.
A Facebook executive position could be something entirely different, however.
“We are officially declining to comment on rumor and speculation,” a Hulu spokeswoman said.
Facebook didn’t respond to a request for comment.
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Scores of billionaires, including Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, are slated to stream into the tiny Friedman Memorial airport here today.
The collective worth of the richest attendees is north of $222 billion — not including numerous multi-millionaires. That astounding number, explains why this event in such an out-of-the-way ski resort gets the attention it does.
They won’t be paying the $549 a-night rate for the priciest “parlor suites” at the Sun Valley Lodge.
They’re here as guests of media dealmaker-in-chief Herb Allen, who will be picking up the tab, not just for the rooms but for a welcome barbecue tonight, when mogul summer camp kicks off with steaks, hamburgers and hot dogs.
Some moguls, such as former Yahoo! chief Terry Semel and CBS boss Leslie Moonves, are flying in from New York, having attended Nora Ephron’s memorial service yesterday.