TaxACT co-founder Lance Dunn has been appointed to the board of Blucora, the search and tax preparation company formerly known as InfoSpace. Blucora purchased TaxACT earlier this year for $287.5 million. “This is an exciting time to join the Blucora board as the Company is successfully executing on its strategy to diversify and grow its businesses,” said Dunn. “TaxACT is well positioned in digital do-it-yourself tax preparation, and I look forward to leveraging my experience to help the Company expand its position even further.”
Amazon.com is being, well, private, about the hiring of a new executive to oversee privacy at the online retailing giant. The Wall Street Journal reported that the company recently hired Nuala O’Connor to oversee privacy, joining with other top technology companies that have hired chief privacy officers. O’Connor, who has served as chief privacy officer of General Electric since 2005, will serve as vice president and associate general counsel, compliance and privacy, according to the Journal. Amazon.com declined to comment on the appointment.
Cell Therapeutics, the Seattle biotechnology company working on therapeutics for cancer, has named Matthew Plunkett to the position of executive vice president of corporate development. The graduate of Harvey Mudd College and University of California, Berkeley previously led the West Coast biotechnology practice for Oppenheimer & Co. In the new role, Plunkett, who most recently served as CFO of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, will oversee CTI’s development collaborations, licensing agreements, and strategic alliances.
Mario Ribera, director of Microsoft’s Xbox Live business, has been named chairman emiritus of the Mobile Marketing Association.
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