Sunsan Lyne, former President and CEO of Martha Stewart Living will now be running Gilt Groupe, a web-based luxury merchandise company that offers steep discounts on high-end items to members of its online community.

The company was founded late last year by Alexis Maybank, a former eBay executive, and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, a former exec with Bulgari and Louis Vuitton, with backing from venture capital shingle Matrix Partners and Alley Corp.

Lyne, who left MSLO in June after four years at the helm, succeeds Maybank as Gilt Groupe CEO. There had been much speculation that Lyne was the frontrunning contender to take the top job at the cable network Oprah Winfrey is preparing to launch next year with Discovery Communications. However, Lyne said she was "enormously impressed" by the growth potential of the Gilt.com service and took on the top position at the year-old company.