Niccolo M. de Masi has served as our Executive Chairman since November 2016, President and Chief Executive Officer from January 2010 to November 2016, as one of our directors since January 2010, as interim Chairman of our board of directors from July 2014 to December 2014 and as the Chairman of our board of directors since December 2014. Mr. de Masi currently serves as the President of Essential, a mobile phone hardware company. Prior to joining Glu, Mr. de Masi was the Chief Executive Officer and President of Hands-On Mobile, a mobile technology company and developer and publisher of mobile entertainment, from October 2009 to December 2009, and previously served as the President of Hands-On Mobile from March 2008 to October 2009. Prior to joining Hands-On Mobile, Mr. de Masi was the Chief Executive Officer of Monstermob Group PLC, a mobile entertainment company, from June 2006 to February 2007. Mr. de Masi joined Monstermob in 2004 and, prior to becoming its Chief Executive Officer, held positions as its Managing Director and as its Chief Operating Officer, where he was responsible for formulating and implementing Monstermob’s growth and product strategy. Prior to joining Monstermob, Mr. de Masi worked in a variety of corporate finance and operational roles within the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sector, beginning his career with JP Morgan on both the TMT debt capital markets and mergers and acquisitions teams in London. He has also worked as a physicist with Siemens Solar and within the Strategic Planning and Development divisions of Technicolor. Mr. de Masi has served as a director of Xura, Inc. since November 2015. Mr. de Masi holds an M.A. degree in Physics and an MSci. degree in Electronic Engineering—both from Cambridge University.
Nick Earl has served as our President and Chief Executive officer since November 2016 and prior to that was our President of Global Studios from November 2015 to November 2016. Before joining us, from November 2014 to September 2015, Mr. Earl served as President of Worldwide Studios at Kabam. From September 2001 to October 2014, Mr. Earl served in several management positions at Electronic Arts, including most recently as Senior Vice President & General Manager of EA Mobile. From 1999 to 2001, Mr. Earl served as VP Product Development at Eidos. From April 1993 to March 1999, Mr. Earl served as an executive producer / GM at The 3DO Company. Mr. Earl holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley.
Eric R. Ludwig has served as our Chief Operating Officer since October 2014, as our Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer since October 2011 and as our Chief Financial Officer since August 2008. Mr. Ludwig previously held the position of Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative Officer from September 2010 to October 2011. Prior to becoming our Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Ludwig served as our Vice President, Finance, Interim Chief Financial Officer from May 2008 to August 2008, served as our Vice President, Finance from April 2005 to May 2008 and served as our Director of Finance from January 2005 to April 2005. In addition, Mr. Ludwig has served as our Assistant Secretary since July 2006. Prior to joining us, from January 1996 to January 2005, Mr. Ludwig held various positions at Instill Corporation, an on-demand supply chain software company, most recently as Chief Financial Officer, Vice President, Finance and Corporate Secretary. Prior to Instill, Mr. Ludwig was Corporate Controller at Camstar Systems, Inc., an enterprise manufacturing execution and quality systems software company, from May 1994 to January 1996. He also worked at Price Waterhouse L.L.P. from May 1989 to May 1994. Mr. Ludwig holds a B.S. in Commerce from Santa Clara University and is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive).
Chris Akhavan has served as our Chief Revenue Officer since May 2016. Prior to this, Mr. Akhavan served as our President of Publishing from April 2013 to May 2016. Before joining us, from January 2010 to April 2013, Mr. Akhavan served in several management positions at Tapjoy, Inc., a provider of incentivized offers, most recently as Senior Vice President, Partnerships. From April 2009 to January 2010, Mr. Akhavan was a Manager, Publisher Network at RockYou!, a social gaming company, and from October 2007 to November 2008, he served as a Strategic Partner Manager at VideoEgg (now SAY Media), an advertising inventory and platform provider. Mr. Akhavan holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Scott J. Leichtner has served as our Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary since September 2010. Mr. Leichtner joined Glu in June 2009 as our Senior Corporate Counsel. Prior to joining us, Mr. Leichtner was a corporate attorney at Fenwick & West LLP, a law firm focused on serving technology clients, from October 1997 to May 2009. Mr. Leichtner holds an A.B. in Political Science from Duke University and a J.D. from the University of Michigan.
Glu Mobile Inc currently has 546 employees.
