American business executive (born 1957/1958)
John Riccitiello () is an American business executive. Previously, he was chief executive officer,
chief operating officer and
president of
Unity Technologies ,
Electronic Arts , and co-founded private equity firm
Elevation Partners in 2004. Riccitiello has sat on several company boards, including those of the
Entertainment Software Association , the
Entertainment Software Rating Board , the
Haas School of Business and the
USC School of Cinematic Arts .
Early life and education
John 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
Early in his career, Riccitiello worked at
Clorox and
PepsiCo ,
[4] and was 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 was 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 video game company
Electronic Arts (EA) in October 1997,
[6] initially as president and
chief operating officer until 2004.
[4]
[10] He left the company to co-found and be a 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 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 the 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's
software development kit .
[20] Riccitiello has led efforts to develop the use of Unity's software tools beyond gaming, in industries such as
automotive design , construction, and
filmmaking .
[21]
[22] On October 9, 2023, Unity announced that Riccitiello would be leaving the company amid controversy, appointing
Jim Whitehurst as interim CEO and president.
[23]
[24]
[25]
Boards
Riccitiello chaired the
Entertainment Software Association and
Entertainment Software Rating Board during the early 2010s.
[2]
[26]
[27] He has been on the Haas School of Business' board,
[28] as well as the Board of Councilors for the
University of Southern California 's
USC School of Cinematic Arts .
[29]
[30]
Recognition
Riccitiello was ranked number 39 on
Sports Illustrated 's 2013 list of the "50 Most Powerful People in Sports".
[31]
[32]
Litigation
On 5 June 2019,
[33] Anne Evans, formerly vice-president in
human resources for Unity Technologies, filed a
sexual harassment and
wrongful termination lawsuit against the company, stating that Riccitiello sexually harassed her.
[34] Unity Technologies responded that Evans' allegations were false and that she had been terminated due to
misconduct and lapse in judgment.
[35]
On September 10, 2019, the Superior Court of California issued a court order granting Unity’s motion to compel arbitration and stay all proceedings.
[36]
Personal life
Riccitiello has two daughters,
[2] a step-son, a step-daughter 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.
[29] He has been described as "politically active",
[2] and donated to
Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign .
[29]
[37] Riccitiello delivered a commencement speech at his alma mater in 2011.
[4]
References
^
a
b
c
"Ice cream to sports: Wilson Sporting Goods Co. said John..."
Chicago Tribune .
Tronc . September 24, 1993.
OCLC
60639020 .
Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013 .
^
a
b
c
d Wolverton, Troy (December 3, 2010).
"Mercury News interview: John Riccitiello, CEO Electronic Arts" .
The Mercury News .
Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
^
"Feature Stories: John Riccitiello, BS 81" .
Haas School of Business (
University of California, Berkeley ).
Archived from the original on May 13, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013 .
^
a
b
c
d
e Takahashi, Dean (March 19, 2013).
"John Riccitiello's legacy: EA survives, but its hit points are dangerously low" .
VentureBeat .
Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
^
a
b Lazarus, George (February 16, 1996).
"Wilson Ceo Pops Up At Sara Lee" . Chicago Tribune .
Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013 .
^
a
b Morris, Chris (April 7, 2004).
"Electronic Arts' president resigns" .
CNNMoney .
Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
^ Kirk, Jim (May 11, 1996).
"Ogilvy President to Head Its S. Africa Office" .
Chicago Sun-Times .
Sun-Times Media Group .
ISSN
1553-8478 . Archived from
the original on November 19, 2018 – via
HighBeam Research . ... Wilson President John Riccitiello... left to run Sara Lee Corp.'s bakery division in March.
^
"Wilson Sporting Goods loses head of marketing" .
Marketing Week .
Centaur Media . March 1, 1996.
ISSN
0141-9285 .
Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
^
"Sara Lee President-CEO Moving to Electronic Arts" .
Advertising Age .
Crain Communications . September 15, 1997.
Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
^
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 .
Archived from the original on September 10, 2017. Retrieved September 1, 2017 .
^
"Electronic Arts names new CEO" . CNNMoney . February 26, 2007.
Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
^ Molina, Brett (March 18, 2013).
"EA chief John Riccitiello to step down" .
USA Today .
Gannett Company .
ISSN
0734-7456 .
Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
^ Ingraham, Nathan (March 18, 2013).
"EA CEO John Riccitiello stepping down on March 30th" .
The Verge .
Vox Media .
Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
^ Stuart, Keith (March 18, 2013).
"Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello resigns" .
The Guardian .
ISSN
0261-3077 .
OCLC
60623878 .
Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
^ McWhertor, Michael (October 22, 2014).
"Former EA CEO John Riccitiello is now head of Unity" .
Polygon . Vox Media.
Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
^
a
b Johnson, Eric (October 22, 2014).
"Unity CEO David Helgason Replaced by John Riccitiello" .
Recode . Vox Media.
Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
^ Loizos, Connie (May 23, 2017).
"Unity, whose software powers half of all new mobile games, lands $400 million from Silver Lake" .
TechCrunch .
Archived from the original on April 14, 2018. Retrieved April 14, 2018 .
^ Makuch, Eddie (October 22, 2014).
"Former EA CEO John Riccitiello Named Top Exec at Game Engine Company Unity" .
GameSpot .
CBS Interactive .
Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
^ Takahashi, Dean (May 23, 2017).
"Game engine maker Unity raises $400 million in private equity from Silver Lake" . VentureBeat.
Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
^ Gaudiosi, John (March 19, 2015).
"This company dominates the virtual reality business, and it's not named Oculus" .
Fortune .
Meredith Corporation .
Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
^ 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 .
Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
^ 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 .
Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
^
"Unity Software Says CEO to Exit, Reaffirms Quarterly Guidance" . Bloomberg.com . October 9, 2023. Retrieved October 9, 2023 . (subscription required)
^
"Briefing: Unity Ousts CEO, Installing Silver Lake Advisor as Temporary CEO" . The Information . October 9, 2023. Retrieved October 9, 2023 .
^ Witkowski, Wallace.
"John Riccitiello, Unity Software's CEO and chairman, is leaving the company" . MarketWatch . Retrieved October 9, 2023 .
^ Kelion, Leo (January 31, 2013).
"EA boss denies video games encourage violent attacks" .
BBC News .
Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
^ LeBoeuf, Sarah (November 15, 2012).
"EA CEO Wants to "Move Beyond the Alphabet Soup of Game Ratings" " .
The Escapist .
Defy Media .
Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
^
"Hall of Fame: John Riccitiello BS 81" . Haas School of Business. Archived from
the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
^
a
b
c
"Five things to know about John Riccitiello" . The Mercury News . July 26, 2008.
Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
^ Kay, Jeremy (August 8, 2008).
"John Riccitiello joins USC Cinematic Arts board" .
Screen International .
ISSN
0307-4617 .
Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
^ Makuch, Eddie (March 13, 2013).
"EA CEO named to sports power list" . GameSpot .
Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
^ Chen, Albert (March 11, 2013).
"The Power 50" .
Sports Illustrated . Meredith Corporation.
ISSN
0038-822X .
Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
^
"Online Services | Superior Court of California - County of San Francisco" . webapps.sftc.org . Retrieved January 6, 2023 .
^ Dickey, Megan Rose (June 8, 2019).
"Former Unity Technology VP files lawsuit alleging CEO sexually harassed her" .
TechCrunch .
Archived from the original on June 8, 2019. Retrieved June 8, 2019 .
^ Takahashi, Dean (June 8, 2019).
"Former vice president sues Unity, accuses CEO of sexual harassment" .
VentureBeat .
^
"Online Services | Superior Court of California - County of San Francisco" . webapps.sftc.org . Retrieved January 6, 2023 .
^ Stevens, Suzanne (July 9, 2008).
"CEO's Political Contributions to Barack Obama & John McCain" .
HuffPost .
Archived from the original on February 12, 2016. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
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