Getty Images hires Dawn Airey as chief executive

Dawn Airey, who recently quit as head of European operations at Yahoo, has been appointed chief executive of Getty Images, the picture licensing group founded by Jonathan Klein and Mark Getty. She takes over from Mr Klein, who has replaced Mr Getty, a scion of the billionaire Getty family, as chairman.

Getty generates most of its revenue from licensing its images to publishers, advertisers and corporate customers. Ms Airey said she hopes to generate new revenue streams for Getty’s consumer business, where imagery can be used for free, such as by layering in advertising. “It’s an advertising opportunity and a big data opportunity. The world’s language isn’t English or Chinese; it’s pictorial.”

Getty owns the world’s largest photo library, with 200 million images. “We’re sitting on an extraordinary asset, which is underutilised . . . Dawn’s background in creating content that appeals to consumers makes a lot of sense,” said Mr Klein.

Ms Airey, a former chief executive of Channel 5, is on the UK government-appointed panel reviewing the BBC’s charter renewal.

Mr Klein and Mr Getty started Getty Images in 1995 in Camden, London. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2015