The outgoing chief executive of Rightmove is among a pack of contenders to become the next boss of Future, the Marie Claire and Wallpaper publisher.
Sky News has learnt that Peter Brooks-Johnson, who will leave the property portal in March, has been shortlisted to succeed Zillah Byng-Thorne, the media group’s veteran chief.
Mr Brooks-Johnson is one of “several” names being considered by Richard Huntingford, Future’s chairman, according to a person close to the succession process.
The identity of the other candidates was unclear this weekend, and one source close to Mr Brooks-Johnson said it was unclear whether, if he was offered the job, he would take it.
Future’s £1.8bn stock market valuation, which has more than halved in the last year, is significantly smaller than that of Rightmove, which has a market capitalisation of £4.5bn.
Mr Brooks-Johnson has run Rightmove since 2017, having joined the company in 2006.
Last September, Future confirmed a Sky News report that Ms Byng-Thorne had notified colleagues that she intended to step down in 2023.
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Since then, she has been named chair-designate of Trustpilot, the online reviews platform.
Under her leadership, Future became one of Britain’s biggest listed digital media companies, acquiring assets such as GoCompare, the price comparison website.
Initially appointed as finance chief in 2013, Future had a market capitalisation of just £30m at the point that Ms Byng-Thorne took over as chief executive.
Future, which also publishes The Week, Country Life and FourFourTwo magazines, said in a statement on Saturday that its “search process is ongoing and an appointment will be announced in due course as and when appropriate”.
Rightmove declined to comment.
One analyst said Mr Brooks-Johnson was a logical contender to run Future because of his track record and digital expertise.
Prior to joining Rightmove, he was a management consultant at Accenture.
He is also on the board of Adevinta, an online classified advertising giant listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange.
