Softbank Hires AT&T; Exec as CEO

Softbank Interactive Marketing said it hired Caroline Vanderlip, the president of AT&T; Corp.’s defunct Personal Online Services unit, as its chief executive. El Segundo-based Softbank Interactive, which sells advertising space for Web sites on the Internet, hired Vanderlip to expand the company’s global reach. AT&T; last fall closed Personal Online, which planned to offer information on health and small towns to consumers on the Internet, AT&T; said. “This is a major move for Softbank,” said Eric Hippeau, chairman and chief financial officer of Ziff-Davis, which is owned by Softbank Interactive’s main investor, Softbank Holdings Inc. of Japan.