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User:Matthewpruitt/John Riccitiello

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John Riccitiello
Riccitiello speaking at the Web Summit in 2017
Born1957 or 1958 (age 66–67)[1]
Erie, Pennsylvania
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley
Employers
Board member of
Children2

John Riccitiello is an American executive who currently serves as chief executive officer (CEO) of Unity Technologies. Previously, he was the CEO of Electronic Arts, rejoining the video game company after holding the president and chief operating officer role. He co-founded the private equity firm Elevation Partners with Roger McNamee and Bono in 2004.

Riccitiello has served on several boards, including the Entertainment Software Association and Entertainment Software Rating Board, the Haas School of Business, and the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Early life and education

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Riccitiello was born in Erie, Pennsylvania.[2] He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business in 1981.[3]

Career

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Early in his career, Riccitiello worked at Clorox and PepsiCo,[4] and served as managing director of the Häagen-Dazs division of Grand Metropolitan.[1][5] He was named president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Wilson Sporting Goods, as well as chairman of MacGregor Golf, in late 1993.[1] He then served as president and CEO of Sara Lee Corporation's Sara Lee Bakery Worldwide unit,[5][6] from March 1996 to September 1997.[7][8][9]

Riccitiello joined Electronic Arts (EA) in October 1997,[6] initially serving as president and chief operating officer until 2004.[4][10] He left the video game company to co-found and serve as partner of Elevation Partners, a private equity firm specializing in entertainment and media businesses,[11] along with Roger McNamee and Bono.[4][10] Riccitiello returned to EA to serve as CEO from February 2007 to March 2013,[10][12][13] when the board of directors accepted his resignation because of the company's financial performance.[4][14][15] Following EA, he worked as an advisor to startup companies and became an early investor in Oculus VR.[16][17]

Riccitiello became CEO of Unity Technologies in late 2014, having previously consulted for and joined the technology company's board in November 2013.[10][16][18] During his tenure, he has overseen two fundraising rounds, raising $181 million in 2016 and $400 million in 2017.[19] He has also worked to get Unity's game engine into Oculus' software development kit.[20] Riccitiello has lead efforts to develop the use of Unity's software tools beyond gaming, in industries such as automotive design, construction, and filmmaking.[21][22]

Board service and recognition

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Riccitiello chaired the Entertainment Software Association and Entertainment Software Rating Board during the early 2010s.[2][23][24] He has served on the Haas School of Business' board,[25] as well as the Board of Councilors for the University of Southern California's USC School of Cinematic Arts.[26][27]

Riccitiello was inducted into the Haas School of Business' Hall of Fame,[25] and ranked number 39 on Sports Illustrated's 2013 list of the "50 Most Powerful People in Sports".[28][29]

Personal life

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Riccitiello has two daughters,[2] and has lived in various cities for work, including the U.S. cities of Birmingham, Alabama, Chicago, New York City, and San Francisco, as well as Düsseldorf, London, Nicosia, and Paris.[26] He has been described as "politically active",[2] and donated to Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.[26][30] Riccitiello delivered a commencement speech at his alma mater in 2011.[4] He enjoys skiing, tennis, and video games.[31]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Ice cream to sports: Wilson Sporting Goods Co. said John..." Chicago Tribune. Tronc. September 24, 1993. OCLC 60639020. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d Wolverton, Troy (December 3, 2010). "Mercury News interview: John Riccitiello, CEO Electronic Arts". The Mercury News. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  3. ^ "Feature Stories: John Riccitiello, BS 81". Haas School of Business (University of California, Berkeley). Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e Takahashi, Dean (March 19, 2013). "John Riccitiello's legacy: EA survives, but its hit points are dangerously low". VentureBeat. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  5. ^ a b Lazarus, George (February 16, 1996). "Wilson Ceo Pops Up At Sara Lee". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  6. ^ a b Morris, Chris (April 7, 2004). "Electronic Arts' president resigns". CNNMoney. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  7. ^ Kirk, Jim (May 11, 1996). "Ogilvy President to Head Its S. Africa Office". Chicago Sun-Times. Sun-Times Media Group. ISSN 1553-8478. Retrieved July 24, 2018 – via HighBeam Research. ... Wilson President John Riccitiello... left to run Sara Lee Corp.'s bakery division in March. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "Wilson Sporting Goods loses head of marketing". Marketing Week. Centaur Media. March 1, 1996. ISSN 0141-9285. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  9. ^ "Sara Lee President-CEO Moving to Electronic Arts". Advertising Age. Crain Communications. September 15, 1997. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  10. ^ a b c d Grubb, Jeff (October 22, 2014). "Unity founder steps down to let ex-EA CEO John Riccitiello take over — here's why". VentureBeat. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  11. ^ "Electronic Arts names new CEO". CNNMoney. February 26, 2007. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  12. ^ Molina, Brett (March 18, 2013). "EA chief John Riccitiello to step down". USA Today. Gannett Company. ISSN 0734-7456. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  13. ^ Ingraham, Nathan (March 18, 2013). "EA CEO John Riccitiello stepping down on March 30th". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  14. ^ Stuart, Keith (March 18, 2013). "Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello resigns". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. ISSN 0261-3077. OCLC 60623878. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  15. ^ McWhertor, Michael (October 22, 2014). "Former EA CEO John Riccitiello is now head of Unity". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  16. ^ a b Johnson, Eric (October 22, 2014). "Unity CEO David Helgason Replaced by John Riccitiello". Recode. Vox Media. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  17. ^ Loizos, Connie (May 23, 2017). "Unity, whose software powers half of all new mobile games, lands $400 million from Silver Lake". TechCrunch. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  18. ^ Makuch, Eddie (October 22, 2014). "Former EA CEO John Riccitiello Named Top Exec at Game Engine Company Unity". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  19. ^ Takahashi, Dean (May 23, 2017). "Game engine maker Unity raises $400 million in private equity from Silver Lake". VentureBeat. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  20. ^ Gaudiosi, John (March 19, 2015). "This company dominates the virtual reality business, and it's not named Oculus". Fortune. Meredith Corporation. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  21. ^ Oreskovic, Alexei (September 14, 2018). "Why EA's former boss believes the 3D tech that powers video games will make way more money outside of gaming". Business Insider. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  22. ^ Wolverton, Troy (September 14, 2018). "One of the leading companies in the video-game business is gunning to take over the enterprise software industry". Business Insider. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  23. ^ Kelion, Leo (January 31, 2013). "EA boss denies video games encourage violent attacks". BBC News. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  24. ^ LeBoeuf, Sarah (November 15, 2012). "EA CEO Wants to "Move Beyond the Alphabet Soup of Game Ratings"". The Escapist. Defy Media. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  25. ^ a b "Hall of Fame: John Riccitiello BS 81". Haas School of Business. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  26. ^ a b c "Five things to know about John Riccitiello". The Mercury News. July 26, 2008. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  27. ^ Kay, Jeremy (August 8, 2008). "John Riccitiello joins USC Cinematic Arts board". Screen International. ISSN 0307-4617. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  28. ^ Makuch, Eddie (March 13, 2013). "EA CEO named to sports power list". GameSpot. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  29. ^ Chen, Albert (March 11, 2013). "The Power 50". Sports Illustrated. Meredith Corporation. ISSN 0038-822X. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  30. ^ Stevens, Suzanne (July 9, 2008). "CEO's Political Contributions to Barack Obama & John McCain". HuffPost. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  31. ^ "John Riccitiello". The Mercury News. July 27, 2008. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
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Category:1950s births Category:Living people Category:American chief executives of food industry companies Category:American chief executives of manufacturing companies Category:American chief operating officers Category:American company founders Category:American technology chief executives Category:Electronic Arts employees Category:Haas School of Business alumni Category:People from Erie, Pennsylvania Category:PepsiCo people Category:Video game businesspeople

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