A shake up took place in the leadership of the 3rd largest video game company in the United States as John Riccitiello announced that he will be resigning his position of CEO of Electronic Arts. In his 6 years as the CEO (chief executive officer) of the gaming giant Mr. Riccitiello has seen several highs and lows including the company's acquisition of the Seattle-based casual gaming company Popcap in July of 2011, having a successful release on Facebook, dropping stock prices and a less than successful release of their latest Sim City.
The following is an excerpt from a letter to the employees that was published in The Wall Street Journal “My decision to leave EA is really all about my accountability for the shortcomings in our financial results this year. It currently looks like we will come in at the low end of, or slightly below, the financial guidance we issued to the Street, and we have fallen short of the internal operating plan we set one year ago. And for that, I am 100 percent accountable,” John Riccitiello said.
Before serving as the CEO, Mr. Riccitiello was President and COO (chief operating officer) of Electronic Arts from 1997-2004. He had left the company after a 7 year tenure to become one of the co-founders of Elevation Partners. Three years later Mr. Riccitiello returned to Electronic Arts when they acquired part of Elevation Partners.
"We thank John for his contributions to EA since he was appointed CEO in 2007, especially the passion, dedication and energy he brought to the Company every single day," said Larry Probst, Chairman of the Board, in a press release. "John has worked hard to lead the Company through challenging transitions in our industry, and was instrumental in driving our very significant growth in digital revenues. We appreciate John's leadership and the many important strategic initiatives he has driven for the Company. We have mutually agreed that this is the right time for a leadership transition."
Mr. Probst will assume the duties of CEO, a position he previously held, as they search for someone to replace Mr. Riccitiello. Mr. Probst was the CEO of Electronic Arts for 16 years before stepping aside from the position letting Mr. Riccitiello take over the reigns.
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