Larry Probst Appointed Executive Chairman, Effective Immediately
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) today announced that John Riccitiello will step down as Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Board of Directors, effective March 30. The Board has appointed Larry Probst as Executive Chairman to ensure a smooth transition and to lead EA’s executive team while the Board conducts a search for a permanent CEO. The Board will consider internal and external candidates with the assistance of a leading executive search firm.
Mr. Probst has played a leadership role at EA since 1991. In addition to serving as Chairman of the Board since 1994, he previously served as the Company’s CEO from 1991 to 2007. As CEO, Probst successfully grew the Company’s annual revenues from $175 million to approximately $3 billion, led EA into new platforms such as mobile, online and other emerging markets and expanded its international presence to more than 75 countries.
“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 Mr. Probst. “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.”
On behalf of the Board, Lead Director Richard A. Simonson stated, “As we begin the CEO search, we are fortunate that Larry, who has a proven track record with our employees, partners and customers, has agreed to assume a day-to-day leadership role as Executive Chairman. He has 16 years of experience as CEO of EA and a deep understanding of the Company’s strategy, management team, business potential and industry trends.”
Mr. Riccitiello stated, “EA is an outstanding company with creative and talented employees, and it has been an honor to serve as the Company’s CEO. I am proud of what we have accomplished together, and after six years I feel it is the right time for me pass the baton and let new leadership take the Company into its next phase of innovation and growth. I remain very optimistic about EA’s future — there is a world class team driving the Company’s transition to the next generation of game consoles.”
Wow. I wonder what this will mean for the future of the company? And I wonder who will be appointed as the new CEO when they hire someone. Let’s see if Mr. Probst shakes anything up in the meantime 😛
I hope Larry comes back full time! He was CEO of EA for many many years.
Hopefully EA will get better with a new CEO. The last few years have been very bad an dthey need to change. Hopefully being the keyword.
Good riddance to John Riccitiello! He was/is a greedy, cold bloodied, uncaring whatsit!
Hopefully the new/old guy will be less concerned about the bottom line and more about what the Fans think!
La la the witch is dead!
Well, I don’t wish anyone dead but I’m certainly glad he’s going. EA’s one of the most god-awful companies out there and hopefully this is a sign that things will change for the better. But one man doesn’t dictate every policy in a company so I can’t see the change being very big or happening very soon….
I’am glad.
I hope that digital, online games policy will be gone with him.
Now they just need to get rid of EA Labels president Frank Gibeau. For those that don’t know he recently said:
“I have not green lit one game to be developed as a single player experience.”