David Schlanger, a longtime WebMD (WBMD) executive and interim CEO since May of this year, has been named its permanent CEO, the company announced today. In addition to the removal of "interim" from Schlanger's CEO title, WebMD also said it has appointed Dr. Steven Zatz as its new president. Like Schlanger, Zatz has also been with WebMD for more than 10 years.
Commenting on the appointment of Schlanger as its new CEO, Chairman Martin Wygod said, "With David's leadership, we are well positioned to build on the current momentum and maintain our focus on the development and implementation of the strategies necessary to diversify our revenue base and capture the opportunities arising from the rapidly changing health care landscape."
WebMD also announced a tender offer to purchase as many as 5 million shares of its stock at $34 per share. The share buyback offer will expire Sept. 10, 2013, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time, according to the company.
WebMD intends to use its approximately $1 billion in cash and cash equivalents to fund the tender offer, according to the announcement. WebMD stock closed at $33.40 a share on Friday, Aug. 9, 2013.
