John Riccitiello

John Riccitiello
Riccitiello in 2011
Born Erie, Pennsylvania, United States
Nationality American
Education Bachelor of Science[1]
Alma mater University of California, Berkeley[1]
Occupation CEO
Employer Unity Technologies
Predecessor David Helgason

John S. Riccitiello (/rɪkɪˈtɛloʊ/) is an American business executive and investor. He is the CEO and chairman of Unity Technologies.[2]

Education

Riccitiello received a Bachelor of Science degree from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley in 1981, graduating with honors.[3]

Early career

After graduation, Riccitiello worked as a manager in several consumer product companies, including Brand Manager at The Clorox Company, Group Marketing Director at PepsiCo, and Managing Director at Häagen-Dazs International.[1] His first CEO position was as President and CEO of Wilson Sporting Goods in 1993.[4] In 1996, he became President and CEO of Sara Lee Corporation's Sara Lee Bakery Worldwide.[5]

From October 1997 through April 2004, Riccitiello was President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Electronic Arts.[1] He left EA in early 2004 to co-found Elevation Partners,[1] a private equity capital fund, along with Silver Lake Partners co-founder Roger McNamee, U2 lead singer Bono, and a number of Silicon Valley investors.[6] Riccitiello served as Managing Director. Focusing on the media and entertainment business,[7] the firm made a number of large-scale investments, including a $400 million investment into Pandemic Studios and BioWare in 2005.[2] In 2007, Riccitiello was re-hired by EA to serve as CEO.[1] In March 2013, following criticism related to the company's use of downloadable content, aggressive acquisitions of smaller development studios, EA announced Riccitiello would step down as CEO.[8][9]

Unity Technologies

In October 2014, Unity Technologies founder and CEO David Helgason named Riccitiello as his successor in the role of chief executive.[2] During his tenure as CEO of the company, he has overseen two fundraising rounds: a $181 million Series C round led by DFJ Growth in July 2016[10] and a $400 million Series D round led by Silver Lake Partners in May 2017.[11] The series D round was reportedly used for purchasing the shares of longtime employees and previous investors.[12]

In March 2017, Riccitiello created the Unity Without Borders sponsorship program for game developers affected by President Donald Trump's travel ban. The program sponsored developers affected by travel restrictions to attend the company's European developer event, Unite Amsterdam. Unity provided visa process assistance, money for daily expenses and paid for travel and lodging expenses for 50 developers as part of the initiative.[13][14]

Board memberships

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]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "John S. Riccitiello Profile". Forbes.
  2. 1 2 3 "Unity founder steps down to let ex-EA CEO John Riccitiello take over — here's why". VentureBeat. 22 October 2014.
  3. ↑ "John Riccitiello, BS 81". 2007.
  4. ↑ "Ice cream to sports: Wilson Sporting Goods Co. said John". Chicago Tribune. September 24, 1993.
  5. ↑ Lazarus, George (February 16, 1996). "Wilson Ceo Pops Up At Sara Lee". Chicago Tribune.
  6. ↑ https://venturebeat.com/2013/03/19/the-ups-and-downs-at-ea-under-fired-ceo-john-riccitiello-and-its-outlook-for-the-future/#Kff4AZHv260Rzcez.99
  7. ↑ Morris, Chris (2004-04-07). "Electronic Arts' president resigns". CNN.
  8. ↑ http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/electronic-arts-ceo-john-riccitiello-leaving-18758349
  9. ↑ Tassi, Paul. "As Earnings Falter And SimCity Fires Burn, John Riccitiello Steps Down As EA CEO". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-06-27.
  10. ↑ Matney, Lucas (July 13, 2016). "Unity Raises $181M Monster Round at a Reported $1.5B Valuation".
  11. ↑ Takahashi, Dean (May 25, 2017). "How Unity Convinced Investors It's Worth $2.6 Billion". Venture Beat.
  12. ↑ Loizos, Connie (May 23, 2017). "Unity, Whose Software Powers Half of All New Mobile Games, Lands $400 Million From Silver Lake". TechCrunch.
  13. ↑ Handrahan, Matthew (March 8, 2017). "Unity Without Borders Offers a Path to Unite Europe for Devs Affected by Trump". GamesIndustry Biz.
  14. ↑ Takahashi, Dean (March 8, 2017). "Unity Without Borders Sponsors Game Developers AFfected by Trump's Travel Ban". VentureBeat.
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