Biz Journals – Mark Pincus, founder of Zynga, the once-super fast growing gaming company, is leaving his operational role as chief product officer, but will stay on as as chairman of the board. Zynga also named a raft of new top executives.
The announcement is part of the founder’s shift away from day-to-day management of the gaming company. Pincus remained chief product officer when he relinquished the CEO role to former Microsoft and Electronic Arts executive Don Mattrick. Pincus recruited Mattrick to the position last July.
Mattrick relayed Pincus’ decision in an email to employees, which was disclosed as the company announced quarterly revenue of $168 million, a 36 percent decrease compared to the first quarter of 2013 and a 5 percent decrease compared to the fourth quarter of 2013. The company reported a loss of $61 million for the first quarter, including a restructuring charge of $30 million, down from a profit of $4 million for the first quarter of 2013 and a loss of $25 million for the fourth quarter.
Pincus launched Zynga in 2007 and presided as CEO while the company’s games, notably Farmville, attracted hundreds of millions of players, largely through the Facebook social networking platform, before its growth engine began to stall. Zynga went public on Dec. 11, 2011, at $10 per share, and closed Wednesday at $4.42. A shareholder lawsuit has been filed in federal court alleging that Pincus and other insiders pumped and dumped stock in a $593 million secondary sale following the IPO without disclosing publicly how much Zynga’s finances were deteriorating.
