Jeff Taylor, who founded the job search site, will exit in August; Monster Worldwide plans to seed his start-up.
Publicly traded Monster Worldwide, parent of Monster.com, is currently in the process of analyzing its options on how to best provide seed capital to Taylor's new venture, said David Rosa, a Monster spokesman. Taylor will continue to serve as an outside adviser to Monster on strategic and brand issues.
Companies often invest in their founders' new start-ups if they're related to the company's own industry, analysts say. But Monster plans to invest in Taylor's new business even though it will not be employment-related.
"Seeding Jeff's new venture is an offensive and defensive move," said Matthew Litfin, a William Blair & Co. analyst. "The offensive move is there's a potential for a return on their investment. And the defensive move is it ensures noncompetition from Jeff going forward."
Though Taylor's project is in early development, it may ultimately find a strategic fit with Monster's other noncore businesses, Rosa said.
"Our properties are broad-based," he said. "It may be a strategic fit, or it may not. It's very premature to say."
Monster Worldwide, however, has recently been stepping away from businesses that are not part of its core market, Litfin said. The company sold off its Yellow Pages division and online relocation business earlier this month, for example.
"They have narrowed their focus to what they do best in recent weeks and months," Litfin said. "The underlying demand for online recruiting is high and growing."
Monster Worldwide, meanwhile, praised Taylor's contribution to the company, saying it has been significant.
"Jeff Taylor will long be remembered for recognizing the potential of the Internet to transform the way people find jobs and companies find talent, and now that passion for ideas has led him to seek a new creative outlet," Andrew McKelvey, Monster Worldwide chief executive, said in a statement.