John Riccitiello
| John Riccitiello | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Bachelor of Science[1] |
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley[1] |
| Occupation | CEO |
| Employer | Electronic Arts |
| Known for | CEO of Electronic Arts |
| Salary | $800,000.00 |
| Net worth | $10 million |
| Predecessor | Larry Probst |
John Riccitiello is the CEO of Electronic Arts (EA).[2]
He received his Bachelors of Science degree from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.[1]
He then worked in a variety of consumer product companies including The Clorox Company (Brand Manager), PepsiCo (Group Marketing Director), Häagen-Dazs International (Managing Director), Wilson Sporting Goods (President and Chief Executive Officer), and Sara Lee Corporation (President and Chief Executive Officer, Bakery Division).[1]
From October 1997 through April 2004, Riccitiello became President and Chief Operating Officer of Electronic Arts.[1] He then left EA and co-founded Elevation Partners,[1] where Riccitiello served as Managing Director. In 2007, Riccitiello was re-hired by EA, this time to serve as CEO. He currently serves on the Board of Councilors of the USC School of Cinematic Arts and on the Board of Directors of the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business.[1]
Riccitello has been credited with diversifying Electronic Arts' business model, and leading the company's shift from consumer packaged goods into the digital delivery of content via console, PC, tablet and mobile devices.[3] A few months after becoming EA’s CEO in 2007, Riccitiello called a meeting of EA’s top executives to address the company’s need to transform itself to survive. Riccitiello described the company’s position at the time: “Our game quality was down, and our costs were high. I could see a fundamental digital transformation coming to our industry that we were not even prepared for. The hardest part was that we were in deep denial.”[4]
Since 2007, with "John Riccitiello's hand on the tiller, EA has steered an extraordinary course - turning around its strategy, its reputation and its commercial performance."[5] The turnaround “was achieved, despite a lower overall game count, by improving the critical scores of each title, adding digital offerings, and expanding EA’s social and mobile games…It also involved a restructuring of the company’s employee base, cutting about 2,000 jobs in the process.” Riccitiello’s “less is more plan” reduced the number of titles the company released from 66 in 2007 to 22 for the current fiscal year.[6]
In May 2011, Electronic Arts announced it had exceeded $800 million in digital revenue as part of its year-end quarterly earnings.[7] Analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities said "EA's results were good…Digital revenue is growing faster than anyone expected."[8]
In an August, 2011 blog post, Riccitiello spoke publicly about the transformation: “Our quality has risen dramatically. We’ve built an $800m+ digital business while pushing down operating costs ... Now, we are switching from defense to offense. We’re focusing on building our intellectual properties/franchises into year-round business. We’ve established our own platform, Origin, and we continue to grow our digital business."[9]
Earlier in the year, at a commencement address at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, Riccitiello said "we knew it would be hard but we had no idea how hard. We knew the enormous investments would be unsettling to investors … and that the return would be a long way off. Perhaps most painfully – we had to do these three hard things while the press and many financial analysts told us we were crazy – that the cutting we were doing was great, but that the investment in digital was just not a good idea. It proved very hard to hear the negative drumbeat from out there in the public while tacking very hard challenges at work. Like everyone else who has had a long business career, I’ve had first-hand experience with failure – and I’ve had the opportunity to learn and recover from it. Everyone fails. Everyone falls down. Everyone loses a game or gets a bad grade … When it happens, fail well."[10]
In January, 2012, EA announced that it had surpassed $1 billion in digital revenue in the 2011 calendar year.[11] “The company is expected to close its current fiscal year in March with a 13% revenue gain and adjusted net income up 32% from the previous year. Overall revenue is expected to pass the $4 billion mark this year.[12]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g "John S. Riccitiello Profile". Forbes Magazine. http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/personinfo/FromPersonIdPersonTearsheet.jhtml?passedPersonId=912288.
- ^ Ben Fritz (2007-02-27). "Electronic Arts Names New CEO". Forbes Magazine. http://www.forbes.com/digitalentertainment/2007/02/27/cx_bf_0227varietygames.html.
- ^ Vance, Ashlee. "Electronic Arts's Plan to Get Your Last Gaming Dollar". Business Week. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_20/b4228037829678.htm.
- ^ Gallagher, Dan. "Electronic Arts’ Riccitiello aims high". MarketWatch. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/electronic-arts-riccitiello-aims-high-2012-01-17.
- ^ Fahey, Rob. "Champion Rising". Gamesindustry.biz. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2011-07-29-champion-rising-editorial.
- ^ Gallagher, Dan. "Electronic Arts’ Riccitiello aims high". MarketWatch. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/electronic-arts-riccitiello-aims-high-2012-01-17.
- ^ Wingfield, Nick (2011-05-05). "Digital Games Propel Electronic Arts's Income". Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703849204576303491625056306.html.
- ^ Snider, Mark (2011-05-05). "Electronic Arts CEO talks strategy". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2011-05-05-electronic-arts-ceo_n.htm.
- ^ Riccitiello, John. "Changing And Growing". EA.com. http://www.ea.com/news/riccitiello-changing-and-growing.
- ^ "John Riccitiello, BS 81, CEO of Electronic Arts, deliver the commencement speech to the 2011 undergraduate graduating class". http://www2.haas.berkeley.edu/Videos/Commencement-2011-Undergrad.aspx.
- ^ Orry, James. "EA lives its $1 billion digital dream". VideoGamer.com. http://www.videogamer.com/news/ea_lives_its_1_billion_digital_dream.html.
- ^ Gallagher, Dan. "Electronic Arts’ Riccitiello aims high". MarketWatch. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/electronic-arts-riccitiello-aims-high-2012-01-17.
[edit] External links
- The Unexpected Gamer Who Runs EA - Kotaku
- John Riccitiello named CEO of EA[dead link] from San Jose Mercury News
- Spore Story - Seed Magazine
- Spore Reviews - Amazon
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