Zynga beefs up its management team:
Zynga Said to Hire Microsoft's Entertainment Chief
By Douglas MacMillan | Bloomberg
July 1, 2013
Zynga Inc. is hiring Don Mattrick, the former head of Microsoft Corp.'s entertainment division, as its new chief executive officer, people familiar with the matter said.
Mattrick will succeed Mark Pincus, who will remain chairman, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the plan is private. The appointment, which will be effective July 8, may be announced as soon as today, said one of the people.
A six-year veteran of Microsoft, Mattrick faces the challenge of reigniting growth at Zynga. The San Francisco-based company is suffering amid rising competition from upstarts such as King.com as well as a shift in the way people play social games -- away from laptops and toward handheld devices.
Shares of Zynga rose as much as 13 percent after technology blog AllThingsD reported earlier today that Mattrick could take over the game developer. Zynga was up 10 percent at $3.07 at 2:09 p.m. in New York, and earlier touched $3.14 for the biggest gain since April 3.
Pincus, who founded Zynga in 2007, is struggling to restart growth as more users shift their attention away from games on websites such as Facebook Inc.'s social network, Zynga's core business.
Pincus lowered his salary to $1 in April and opted not to receive a cash bonus or equity award this year as the company works to cut costs. Zynga said last month it will cut 520 jobs, or 18 percent of its staff, and close some offices amid disappointing results.
To contact the reporter on this story: Douglas MacMillan in San Francisco at dmacmillan3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Pui-Wing Tam at ptam13@bloomberg.net
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