1 Like And this is good news? Another rich greedy executive joining the gestapo of EA? Actually, any news with EA in it makes me sick.
EA hires former Yahoo! exec as CFO
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Former Yahoo! and Levi Strauss exec Blake Jorgensen joins Electronic Arts as executive vice president and chief financial officer, expected to start in early September.
Electronic Arts has hired former Yahoo! chief financial officer (CFO) Blake Jorgensen as its new executive vice president and chief financial officer, the publisher announced today. Jorgensen will report to EA chief executive John Riccitiello and will assume responsibility for the company's global financial operations when he starts early this September.
Jorgensen most recently served as executive vice president and CFO for Levi Strauss & Co., a position he held since July 2009. Before that job, Jorgensen was CFO at multinational Internet company Yahoo! and chief operating officer and co-director of investment banking at Thomas Weisel Partners, a firm he co-founded in 1998.
In a statement, Riccitiello said Jorgensen's knowledge of finance and experience in online commerce and entertainment will be "instrumental" in EA's shift into digital distribution of game content and services. EA's digital sector was prosperous during the firm's last fiscal year, during which the company tallied $1.2 billion in digital receipts. EA will report its first quarter earnings this afternoon.
Jorgensen graduated from Stanford University with a degree in Economics in 1982 and earned his MBA at Harvard Business School in 1988. In February, then-CFO Eric Brown resigned after nearly four years with EA. Until Jorgensen officially joins the publisher in September, eight-year company veteran Ken Barker will fill the vacant role as interim CFO.
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
36 comments
1 Like 
whoa a Harvard business graduate, maybe there's light at the end of the tunnel for EA after all
...and in totally related news, EA announces large financial investment in a future series of Kardashian games(TBA). Top executive official claims "We know it's what the people want." Stay tuned!
Interesting. It would be nice to get CFOs and such with fantastic financial experience and a love for games. Perhaps that would help change the current model for trying to get money. Maybe they could earn more money with consistent quality games than aiming for that smash hit.
@sirkibble2 hiring a CFO means they want him to creatively work their books, so that they look better then they really are to shareholders and investors.
7 Like The worst company and video games hired an ex-executive from the worst company in just about everything else? Its just like a Nicolas Sparks novel...
1 Like Does he have a propensity for putting his foot in his mouth? If not, I really don't think he'll fit in with EA's whole corporate culture.
9 Like Like anything good has ever spawn from a Yahoo exec, even Microsoft wouldn't deal with them. But on that note, I think he will fit right in at EA.
So Eddie, here's a question for you, lover:
Do you prefer Peter Pan brand peanut butter or Jif brand peanut butter? Or does the Skippy taste better? Which one is more rich and extra chunky? Can you do an article about that, sweetheart?
Thanks in advance,
Love,
Samantha. XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
The EA Problem: Plummeting EA share prices and bad management decisions resulting in crippling IPs with dreadful DRM combined with anti creativity and anti customer policies...
The EA Solution: Instead of fixing the problems we already know about lets hire more management! So which failing companies are trying to get rid of staff, So that we can get them....
In all seriousness the fact that EA are hiring a CFO means they want him to creatively work their books, so that they look better then they really are.
3 Like Isn't Yahoo! crashing and burning to the ground? Seems like another bad decision in a line of bad decisions by EA. Or maybe this is one of their first moves towards "Freemium" :D
I like how this article fleshes out a bit of Jorgensen's background to try to provide some context for this news. Kudos, Eddie!
This news feels pretty irrelevant to the casual gamer. But for those that play game as their primary hobby, like myself, such developments can easily lead to trends that ultimate change what kind of games I will be able to play and call into question whether I should leave gaming altogether. To those with family, it may directly affect how much they permit or discourage their children from playing games.
For now, this news is neither good nor bad, but it will undoubtedly turn out to be good for some and bad for others. With every bit of new information, each of us will know which side we are on.
Thank God he didn't say UFO considering their last statement about "Freemium" where it says, "humans like free stuff".
3 Like Hmm former Levi Strauss executive...So is this the part where we, according to Peter Moore at EA, walk into a Gap-like EA store and browse for games?
12 Like A move from Yahoo to EA ... humm .. would that be considered a lateral move or a demotion?
2 Like And I need to know this because..????? It may change my retirement portfolio? CFO's, CEO's, blah blah I still to this day cannot grasp how they make so much goddamn money and all they do is speculate and make a decision, when all the hard work is on the progammers table. Should of hired within the company someone that knows games and has a feeling for the the company. Useless article again Chunky Peanut butter bong hitter!
Sincerely Bernie Madoff
"In a statement, Riccitiello said Jorgensen's knowledge of finance and experience in online commerce and entertainment will be "instrumental" in EA's shift into digital distribution of game content and services."
^^Digital Distribution, comes from our pockets not Jorgensen's. I think Jorgensen is in over his head, smh.
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