Thomson Taps Marketing Pro As New Chief

After a long search, Thomson Financial Services has brought in David Flaschen, an executive with a marketing and technology background, to fill the role of president and CEO. TFS announced last year that Mason Slaine, the then-current chief, was stepping down by the end of the year to pursue other interests (IMD, July 1, 1996).

The new CEO's marketing background reflects TFS's bottom-line emphasis. Says Michael Danziger, an executive vice president at TFS: "As Thomson goes forward, an important part of how we look at ourselves as a business is to be ... market-driven. We're not just selling this or that product but we're trying to provide a service to vertical segments in the financial service marketplace. And if someone who has strong marketing and technology experience can help us see where those gap opportunities are for us, that would be terrific. That would be a great thing for David to bring to the team."

Flaschen will take the helm at TFS on March 3, reporting to Andy Mills, president and CEO of Thomson Corp.'s Financial & Professional Publishing Group. Most recently chairman and CEO of Donnelly Marketing, a direct mail marketing company, Flaschen also has served as president and COO for AC Nielsen, North America, which provides marketing information for the consumer packaged goods industry. He's also held management roles at Dataquest, a market research firm for the information technology, computer and communications industries, and IMS International, which provides marketing information to the pharmaceutical and health care industries. Early in his career, he held management positions with IBM.

Mills said in a statement that among other things, Flaschen has "a sharp sense of business strategy.... a strong technology bent.... outstanding interpersonal skills.... [and] would fit well within the entrepreneurial, highly decentralized culture." Said Mills: "We want a CEO who can act as a catalyst of collaboration between our business groups, so that they can take full advantage of the breadth of information we offer, to create new value-added products and services for our customers."

TFS was originally looking to promote someone from within the company to fill the slot; sources now say at least one insider, including Danziger, were approached about the position. Danziger, who runs TFS's database group, declines to comment.

Says one source close to the company: "[TFS is] really like a grab bag of companies and I think it's a tough job, which is one of the reasons no one wanted it internally and it took them so long to find a candidate."

TFS is a collection of decentralized companies including ILX Systems, Technical Data and a range of financial database providers. It also has a 52 per cent stake in First Call (see chart, this issue). In 1995, TFS reported revenues of $622 million (IMD, April 8, 1996).

Commenting on the selection of Flaschen, a source close to the new TFS chief says, "He has a background in management and information companies and companies that use technology to deliver information.... It's really management of information companies."

For his part, Slaine is now an associate in a partnership with Warburg Pincus Ventures, a limited partnership, and is focusing on acquiring some publishing properties. At the time he announced his decision to leave, he said his reasons for leaving had "nothing to do with Thomson."