John Riccitiello

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.

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. His first CEO position was as President and CEO of Wilson Sporting Goods in 1993. In 1996, he became President and CEO of Sara Lee Corporation's Sara Lee Bakery Worldwide.

EA

From October 1997 through April 2004, Riccitiello was President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Electronic Arts. Responsible for global publishing and online and corporate functions, he oversaw expansion of EA's video games into the worldwide mass market. During his tenure, EA grew to be the world's largest maker of video games, with sales rising from $673 million in 1997 to more than $3 billion in fiscal year 2004. EA's profits rose from $51.3 million in 1997 to $577 million in fiscal year 2004.

EA employed a collaborative strategy during this period, entering into an online gaming partnership with AOL and a dual joint venture with Japanese video game company Square; the company also increased its focus on developing large franchises, such as the Madden NFL line of sports games. Riccitiello and studio chief Don Mattrick also notably encouraged the company to pursue The Sims, developed by Will Wright, which later became one of the best-selling EA game series of all time.

Elevation Partners

Riccitiello left EA in early 2004 to co-found Elevation Partners, 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. Riccitiello served as Managing Director. Focusing on the media and entertainment business, the firm made a number of large-scale investments, including a $400 million investment into Pandemic Studios and BioWare in 2005. Both Pandemic and BioWare were acquired by EA in 2007 for $860 million.

Elevation has gone on to invest in media, internet, and entertainment companies such as Forbes, SDI Media Group, Palm, Facebook and Yelp.

Return to EA

In 2007, Riccitiello was re-hired by EA to serve as CEO. At that time, profits had declined, growing expenses were beginning to outpace revenue growth, and the company was largely unprepared for the digital transformation facing the gaming industry. According to Elevation's McNamee, “Internet access was going to change the delivery of content. EA at the time was incredibly happy doing what they were doing, but John’s feeling was that they were going to get killed by the change.”

Riccitiello has been credited with diversifying Electronic Arts' business model, directing the company's shift from consumer packaged goods into the digital delivery of content via console, PC, tablet, and mobile devices. Riccitiello described the company’s position at the time as untenable: “Our game quality was down, and our costs were high. I could see a fundamental digital transformation coming to our industry that we were not even prepared for. The hardest part was that we were in deep denial.”

In an August 2011 blog post, Riccitiello spoke publicly about the transformation, citing an increase in profits and the launch of EA's digital client, Origin, as an opportunity for the company to shift from a defensive position to a more proactive one by extending its intellectual properties into year-round franchises and expanding its digital reach. EA generated $1.6 billion of digital revenue in 2012 and the #1 ranking in annual revenue for Apple iOS. Its games also became more positively received, rising in Metacritic's rankings from #5 in 2010 to #1 in 2012. However, after several years of slightly growing profits, the company's profitability fell below projections in 2013.

Criticism and exit from EA

Riccitiello's tenure was met with extensive criticism at times. He was placed #5 in 24/7 Wall St's "CEOs to Fire in 2013". Under his leadership, the company's stock dropped 70% from $52 to $16.75. EA also received significant public scrutiny during this time, being voted the worst American company in 2012 in Consumerist's annual poll; voters criticized the company's use of downloadable content as financially exploitative and its aggressive and expensive acquisition of smaller development studios. EA faced further backlash for the controversial Mass Effect 3 ending and the widely-criticized 2013 launch of SimCity, both cited as examples of Riccitiello's questionable ability to lead the company adequately.

In March 2013, after several waves of criticism including the recent release of SimCity, EA announced Riccitiello would step down as CEO. VentureBeat reports that he left the company with a "mixed record" and was fired for failing to meet his financial goals, stating that under his leadership, the company "survived... but it hasn't exactly thrived." Reuters concurred, observing that EA was generating profit margins of less than 7%, regarded as insufficient for a company of EA's size. These margins were seen as consequences of Riccitiello's decision to buy out development studios, often costly acquisitions that were not necessarily capable of turning an adequate profit, as well as expanded franchises that failed to meet projected sales. Forbes argued that rather than financial criticisms pushing Riccitiello out, "it’s hard not to draw conclusions that his leaving is related to SimCity’s always-online DRM, which has lit up the Internet with fan ire." Upon Riccitiello's exit, chairman Larry Probst was named executive chairman while the company searched for a replacement. In October 2014, Unity Technologies founder and CEO David Helgason named Riccitiello as his successor in the role of chief executive.

Educational institutions

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.