Iddison resigns as Jagex CEO, replaced by Mark Gerhard

[Ren]

Jagex Appoints Mark Gerhard as Chief Executive Officer

UK, Cambridge, 30th January, 2009 – Jagex today announced the appointment of Mark Gerhard as the new Chief Executive Officer following the resignation of Geoff Iddison earlier this month. Mark Gerhard, who currently serves as the Chief Technical Officer at Jagex, has been appointed to lead the company from 1st February.

“I have enjoyed working for Jagex immensely,” said Geoff Iddison. “The business remains at the cutting edge of the video games industry and its continued growth reflects the strong business model and the high calibre of people within the company. It was great to be part of a business which is shaping the industry in such a way.”

“On behalf of everyone at Jagex, I’d like to thank Geoff for everything he has brought to the business over the last 18 months, and wish him all the best with his future endeavours,” said Andrew Gower, Jagex Founder. “We have an exciting year planned for 2009 and are confident of continued success with Mark as our new CEO. Mark has performed exceptionally well since joining the company last year and I am sure that Jagex will continue to flourish under his leadership.”

Mark joined Jagex in February 2008 from GTECH where he served as the Principle Security Architect for the National Lottery. He has held numerous executive positions and has over 14 years experience working in the technology sector. “Having the opportunity to build on Jagex's phenomenal success is a great privilege and I'm honored by the boards’ endorsement,” said Mark Gerhard. “I fully intend to build value for Jagex, our players and our great staff.”

http://jagex.com/corporate/Press/releaseCEO_2.ws

So congratulations Mod MMG, and I wish you well in your role as CEO.



And here's a quote not in the press release:

"Mark was a very detailed manager that provided great insight that often assisted me in my business development decisions. His IT knowledge was complimented by his understanding of marketing which made his recommendations that more meaningful."
— Brian Nash, VP Business Development, Serious USA, worked indirectly for Mark at Serious (2000-2002)

[sk3l3t0r711]

I wonder why he left?

[Ren]

I don't think he had any particular reason to resign from Paypal Europe, so it could just be that someone offered him more money or he wanted a change.

Mark's Employment history:
Chief Executive Officer at Jagex (February 2009 onwards)
Chief Technical Officer at Jagex (January 2008 - February 2009)
Security Architect at GTECH (October 2007 - January 2008)
Chief Technical Officer at Ministry of Data (November 2004 - October 2007)
Group Systems Manager at Sterling Relocation (September 2002 - November 2004)
Chief Operating Officer at Serious (July 2000 - April 2002)
Principal Consultant at Chromasonic Computer Centre Ltd (June 1999 - July 2000)
IT Director at Hospital I.T. Solutions (Pty) Ltd (January 1999 - May 1999)
Security Consultant at Rand Merchant Bank (October 1998 - December 1998)

Statement from last year regarding the North American servers:

Jagex has recently made a significant investment in upgrading our server architecture internationally whilst actively working on reducing our carbon footprint.

Part of this process involved moving to new data centres that provide power from renewable sources. Additionally, all game servers designated for Canada/USA were replaced with substantially faster and more resilient hardware.

We managed to achieve this massive upgrade on Friday 25 April 2008 without disruption to players by essentially "cloning" systems from a standard secure build. Unfortunately this resulted in the configuration files that denote the servers' designation also being "cloned" from the standard build.

Our IT Department became aware of the issue around 7pm on Friday and immediately proceeded to update the configuration files. The task was completed around 8pm on Friday.

I would like to personally apologise for any distress this may have caused to our players and would like to assure them that all the improvements we have made so far are designed to improve the security, performance, reliability and overall positive experience of all our games.

Yours Sincerely,
Mod MMG
Chief Technical Officer

[sk3l3t0r711]

Could very well be the case, in these economic times a pay raise and more benefits would be enough to make anyone jump ship, however I was reading that with the economic downturn people are turning to video games to ease the stress of financial turmoil...so to leave in what could very well be boom times for Jagex seems somewhat unusual unless he is going to another video game publisher?

Video game industry roars in December
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-10143990-235.html?subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&part=sphere

Is the video game industry recession-proof?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10107412-52.html

There might be just more to this story than a press release, maybe the companie's performance was not in line with what the Board expected and he chose to resign and save face?

Looking at that employment history, it would seem he is a rolling stone...I would be thinking twice as a hiring manager with someone who tends to change jobs every 2 years or less.

[Ren]

There might be just more to this story than a press release, maybe the companie's performance was not in line with what the Board expected and he chose to resign and save face?

Well, Jagex's 2008 figures are due out tomorrow and shareholders Insight Venture Partners have two seats on the Board of Directors (although the Gowers have control).

[sk3l3t0r711]

That might be the missing link...can't wait for you to dig up those details

[Ren]

That might be the missing link...can't wait for you to dig up those details

Don't worry, my spreadsheets are ready to go to so I can update their financial graphs as soon as the new figures come out. No 288a ("Appointment of a Director or Secretary" filing) has been put on record yet. When Iddison got the job I actually broke the story before the press release or any official announcement - I must be getting slow.

[Rakshar]

Ren how this happened without you knowing first...... age must be catching up to you (jk)

Some thoughts:
18 months.... not a good sign.
Replaced by another executive without a history in the video game industry.
Sorry Ren this doesn't bode well for how Mechscape is progressing.
A hunch is forming that the Gowers are starting to exert more control again.
Could Insight Venture be getting ready to pull out?
LL and I still need a programmer

[Ren]

Good questions, shame I don't have any answers at the moment.

Just to add to the speculation, what do you think is the significance of the following elective resolution (passed by all members of the board on the 13th of July 2007):

1. "That...the Company hereby elects to dispense with the holding of Annual General Meetings in 2007 and subsequent years"

2. "That the Company elect to dispense with the obligation to appoint auditors annually... and to authorise the directors to fix the auditors' remuneration from time to time as they should think fit"

3. "That... the Company hereby elects to dispense with the laying of accounts and reports before the Company in general meeting"

At least Jagex found a replacement for the CEO faster than they did for the Head of RuneScape position.

Sorry Ren this doesn't bode well for how Mechscape is progressing.

Surely that'd be Henrique leaving not Iddison. I think it would have more effect on ThirdScape since it seems like Iddison was really into the micro-transaction thing.

[Gentle Dove]

Hmmm. There's a story here, I'd imagine. We'll probably never know what it is, though.

[Mariah Wynd]

I don't think he had any particular reason to resign from Paypal Europe, so it could just be that someone offered him more money or he wanted a change.

Employment history:
Chief Executive Officer at Jagex (February 2009 onwards)
Chief Technical Officer at Jagex (January 2008 - February 2009)
Security Architect at GTECH (October 2007 - January 2008)
Chief Technical Officer at Ministry of Data (November 2004 - October 2007)
Group Systems Manager at Sterling Relocation (September 2002 - November 2004)
Chief Operating Officer at Serious (July 2000 - April 2002)
Principal Consultant at Chromasonic Computer Centre Ltd (June 1999 - July 2000)
IT Director at Hospital I.T. Solutions (Pty) Ltd (January 1999 - May 1999)
Security Consultant at Rand Merchant Bank (October 1998 - December 1998)
]

Excuse me Ren, is this the employment history of Geoff Iddison (not seeing Paypal listed unless it is GTech) or of Mark Gerhard. I'm confused?

[Dragonlordjl]

Good riddance. I didn't like the direction Jagex took under Iddison.

[Ren]

Excuse me Ren, is this the employment history of Geoff Iddison (not seeing Paypal listed unless it is GTech) or of Mark Gerhard. I'm confused?

That was Mark Gerhard's.

Iddison's is:
C.E.O at Jagex Ltd (August 2007 - February 2009) - 1 year 5 months
CEO PayPal(Europe) Ltd at eBay (May 2000 - July 2007) - 7 years 3 months
C.O.O. at Christie's Inc (December 1995 - May 1999) - 3 years 6 months
Managing Director at I.P.S.Ltd (January 1991 - December 1995) - 5 years
Head of Product Development, R&D at Crosfield Electronics (Dupont) (July 1984 - January 1991) - 6 years 7 months

This makes Iddison's one and a half years with Jagex his shortest ever high-level job duration (next in line being 3 years 6 months at Christie's Inc).

[Auntieump]

Hmmm, GTECH runs the lottery here in Texas. Their reputation is less than stellar. Luckily, their contract ends soon.

Pulled from the local newspaper -

DPS (Department of Public Safety) outlined instances over the last six years in which Gtech has fallen under suspicion of using kickbacks, padded consulting contracts and ill-advised loans to win or keep business in Brazil, Trinidad, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Mr. Gerhard's background seems to be more on the technical side. Unfortunately, I didn't see any visible improvements to the technical side of Runescape under his reign unless you count the addition of some servers. Please correct me if I've missed something.

A more positive move would have been getting someone with true gaming experience to lead the company. Someone who has run a business from the technical side and the business side. Runescape is the Gower's game but I think RS has grown past their capabilities as true leaders. Sure they created RS but they lack maturity and experience in the real world of multimillion dollar companies. Jagex needs someone with a true vision to the future who has the strength to see that goal to fruition.

And what absolutely scares me to death---dispensing with accounting and audit reporting?!? Holy heck, just where is my $5 going each month?

[Ren]

Mr. Gerhard's background seems to be more on the technical side. Unfortunately, I didn't see any visible improvements to the technical side of Runescape under his reign unless you count the addition of some servers. Please correct me if I've missed something.

One of Mark's achievements is handling their PCI compliance (Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council). One of those behind the scene things you wouldn't really notice.

A more positive move would have been getting someone with true gaming experience to lead the company. Someone who has run a business from the technical side and the business side. Runescape is the Gower's game but I think RS has grown past their capabilities as true leaders. Sure they created RS but they lack maturity and experience in the real world of multimillion dollar companies. Jagex needs someone with a true vision to the future who has the strength to see that goal to fruition.

Perhaps that is more important for the Head of RuneScape role than the CEO role.

And what absolutely scares me to death---dispensing with accounting and audit reporting?!? Holy heck, just where is my $5 going each month?

No, they still have to do accounting and reporting, they just don't need to get the two Directors from Insight Venture Partners to fly all the way over from America to do the AGM every year.

[Auntieump]

Mr. Gerhard's background seems to be more on the technical side. Unfortunately, I didn't see any visible improvements to the technical side of Runescape under his reign unless you count the addition of some servers. Please correct me if I've missed something.

One of Mark's achievements is handling their PCI compliance (Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council). One of those behind the scene things you wouldn't really notice.

A more positive move would have been getting someone with true gaming experience to lead the company. Someone who has run a business from the technical side and the business side. Runescape is the Gower's game but I think RS has grown past their capabilities as true leaders. Sure they created RS but they lack maturity and experience in the real world of multimillion dollar companies. Jagex needs someone with a true vision to the future who has the strength to see that goal to fruition.

Perhaps that is more important for the Head of RuneScape role than the CEO role.

And what absolutely scares me to death---dispensing with accounting and audit reporting?!? Holy heck, just where is my $5 going each month?

No, they still have to do accounting and reporting, they just don't need to get the two Directors from Insight Venture Partners to fly all the way over from America to do the AGM every year.

Ahh, I see. I didn't realize there was a distinction between CEO's roles in American and how their roles are viewed in Europe. Interesting.....

[Ukraine]

All i hope is that this guy will take runescape and other Jagex's products to a better level.
But hey wel see.

[Ren]

What's your thought on this blog entry (which by the way links to TruthScape)?

The author states "I fear that instead they have appointed a technologist as CEO, when I suspect they need a commercially-savvy individual who will stand up to the founders to get his voice heard. I suspect that this announcement might mark the high watermark of Jagex’s fortunes and the start of a long slow decline."

Personally my view is the opposite in that Jagex was in decline and Gerhard was their way of going back in the right direction.

[Rakshar]

What's your thought on this blog entry (which by the way links to TruthScape)?

The author states "I fear that instead they have appointed a technologist as CEO, when I suspect they need a commercially-savvy individual who will stand up to the founders to get his voice heard. I suspect that this announcement might mark the high watermark of Jagex’s fortunes and the start of a long slow decline."

Personally my view is the opposite in that Jagex was in decline and Gerhard was their way of going back in the right direction.

Somebody else is reading all your hard work Ren

To be honest I don't think an executive from Ebay/PayPal was the greatest choice to bring a business into commercial relevence. Ebay has already started its "long slow decline". You are correct in your last statement because last year was the only year in Jagex history where they went backwards.