• D: All Things Digital, Wednesday, May 13, 2009 11:45 AM

Peter Kafka at All Things D reports that CBS digital chief Quincy Smith is planning to leave to start his own boutique investment bank or consultancy sometime this summer, according to sources. Smith has been running the CBS Interactive unit since November 2006. CBS declined to comment.

Kafka says that becoming a dealmaker would be in line with Smith's previous experience, as that's exactly what he did prior to joining CBS. In fact, his last job was at media banking company Allen & Co., where he underwrote a slew of Silicon Valley deals, including Google's $1.6 billion purchase of YouTube in 2006. Kafka says Smith's departure also makes sense because CBS doesn't need "a deal guy" running its digital operations anymore: like many other media firms, CBS is still trying to integrate recent Web company purchases like Last.fm, an online music service, and CNet, which it bought last year for $1.8 billion.

Kafka notes that Smith has been opposed to doing a content deal with Hulu, the joint video venture from NBC, News Corp and Disney. Might Smith's successor change that stance?

Read the whole story at D: All Things Digital »