Company bolsters management team with execs from Yahoo!, Electronic Arts, and Yandex Labs
San Francisco – June 9, 2009 – Zynga, the largest developer of social games, today appointed several new members to its executive team to help oversee the company’s casual and mobility group, game development, general counsel, human resources, and business operations departments. The new team includes Reggie Davis, Robert Goldberg, Vish Makhijani, Colleen McCreary, and Mike Verdu.
“We were looking for a team with the strongest possible combination of leadership, business skills, and relevant experience in various fields to create a powerhouse ecosystem,” said Mark Pincus, CEO and founder of Zynga. “Working together, these five individuals will address our users’ needs, and their dynamic leadership, business insight, and rich experience will help Zynga take huge strides in the social gaming space.”
Reggie Davis joins Zynga as general counsel. Davis spent nine years of his career at Yahoo!, most recently serving as vice president of network and exchange operations, and prior to that was associate general counsel at the company. Davis will be responsible for overseeing Zynga’s legal department.
Robert Goldberg officially joins Zynga as senior vice president of business operations, which includes revenue management, sales, marketing, business and corporate development, partner management and studio services. Goldberg brings over 25 years of senior management experience at industry leading media, e-commerce, enterprise software companies and venture capital firms, including Idealab and NBCi.
Vish Makhijani joins Zynga as senior vice president of casual and mobility. Makhijani was previously CEO of Yandex Labs, a Russian search company, and prior to that had a long career with Yahoo!, with his last position as senior vice president, Yahoo! Search. He brings with him a wealth of experience to help Zynga capitalize on web and social network opportunities.
Colleen McCreary joined the company in March as chief people officer. Previously, she spent five years at Electronic Arts (EA), where she was global corporate human resources director as well as the head of university relations, community relations, and diversity, and worked with EA’s studios around the world. Prior to EA, McCreary spent several years at Microsoft in a number of different roles.
Mike Verdu joins the company as vice president of game development. Verdu most recently served as vice president and general manager of Electronic Arts Los Angeles where he oversaw major franchises such as Command & Conquer, Medal of Honor, and The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth. Prior to that, he led EA’s real-time strategy gaming business. His past credits include key roles on games that have sold more than 20 million copies in aggregate. Verdu brings his passion for the social gaming space and will be focused on helping Zynga scale its abilities with respect to people, process, and product.
Zynga Public Relations