July 8th, 2009 by Arjan Olsder Posted in People | 3 Comments »
Glu (GLUU) has announced that the company's CEO and President Greg Ballard has indicated his intention to end his career as the CEO of the well known publisher.
The board of directors has retained Martha Josephson of Egon Zehnder, an executive recruiting firm, to help find new candidates to lead the company. The company expects Greg will remain in his role until his successor is in place.
“After six years, I have decided the timing is right to look for a new challenge. I’m incredibly proud of how much we accomplished during my tenure, having built what I believe to be a world-class global enterprise," said Greg Ballard, President and CEO. “The Glu board and I also share the view that this is a good time to bring in new leadership for the company, as we focus on returning to generating positive cash and begin even greater investment in next-generation mobile platforms. I especially want to thank the tireless and dedicated efforts of the worldwide Glu team, who I continue to believe are the best in the business."
"Glu has made significant progress in the last several quarters on its business and financial goals despite the challenging economic environment, and I am confident that the foundation set by Greg and the Glu team will serve us well as we endeavor to grow market share in the traditional carrier business and gain additional traction with new platforms such as the iPhone,” said Dan Skaff, Co-Chairman of Glu Mobile. “During his six-year tenure, Greg was instrumental in our growth from an early-stage company to a leading global publisher of mobile games, including having guided the company through our successful initial public offering. We thank Greg for his dedication to the success of Glu Mobile and his commitment to helping ensure a smooth leadership transition. Greg has helped build a strong and deep organization, and we are confident we will find a talented successor in the near future.”
Glu also announced that the upcoming financial reports will be in-line with expectations set in the previous report.
“We believe that our preliminary results for the second quarter highlight our commitment to effectively compete in the traditional carrier business, while continuing to invest in our new platform initiatives and focus on solid execution and cost controls,” said Eric R. Ludwig, Chief Financial Officer. “The company remains committed to being cash flow positive from operations during FY09.”
We wonder where Greg will end up next. We wish him success with his new adventures.
Greg, you’re going to be sorely missed. Your vision of a 3 publisher industry, ability to overspend VC money, running a company deep in the red inflating licensing and marketing costs across the board has been a shining example to us all. Run for senate?
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9… Knock out!
What will be next? The main problems arent solved as well. Greg will show up somewhere for sure but I doubt that it will be mobile games anymore.
I am really afraid what will show up now as CEO of Glu.