New York, USA - October 29, 2010, New York, USA - Take-Two Interactive Software announced that its CEO Ben Feder has decided to step down. Executive chairman Strauss Zelnick will take on the additional role of chief executive officer.
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Mr. Feder, a partner of ZelnickMedia since 2001, became Chief Executive Officer and Director of Take-Two in March 2007. Mr. Feder oversees ZelnickMedia's interest in Columbia Music Entertainment (CME) of Japan. He serves on the board of CME, traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Prior to co-founding ZelnickMedia, Mr. Feder was Chief Executive Officer of MessageClick, Inc., a leading provider of voice messaging technology for next generation telephone networks.
Prior to founding MessageClick, Mr. Feder served as a senior executive at News Corp., where his most recent position was Executive Vice President, News MCI Internet Ventures. In this role, he oversaw worldwide corporate development, marketing, operations, content and advertising activities for News Corp.'s Internet services and led the company's negotiations for the formation of News MCI Internet Ventures, a News Corp. joint venture with MCI.
Previously, Mr. Feder managed corporate development for Fox, the unit of News Corp. that develops and produces feature films and programming for television and cable television. At Fox, he was responsible for structuring and negotiating film financing, acquiring television assets, including Star TV in Asia, and distribution for cable networks, including Fox's FX channel.
Mr. Feder holds an MBA from Harvard University and a BA from Columbia University.
Mr. Zelnick, a partner in ZelnickMedia since 2001, became Chairman of Take-Two in March 2007. Mr. Zelnick is currently Chairman of Columbia Music Entertainment (CME) of Japan, OTX, and ITN Networks. He serves on the boards of directors of Blockbuster Inc. and Naylor Inc.
Mr. Zelnick served as Executive Chairman of Direct Holdings, the parent company of Time Life and Lillian Vernon until the company was sold to Reader's Digest on March 2, 2007.
Prior to forming ZelnickMedia, Mr. Zelnick was President and Chief Executive Officer of BMG Entertainment, a $4.7 billion music and entertainment company with more than 200 record labels and operations in 54 countries.
Mr. Zelnick's appointment as President and Chief Executive Officer of BMG Entertainment followed his tenure as President and Chief Executive Officer of the company's North American business unit from 1994 through 1998. Before joining BMG Entertainment, Mr. Zelnick was President and Chief Executive Officer of Crystal Dynamics, a leading producer and distributor of interactive game software.
Prior to that, Mr. Zelnick spent four years as President and Chief Operating Officer of 20th Century Fox, where he managed all aspects of the worldwide motion picture and distribution business.
Previously, Mr. Zelnick spent three years at Vestron Inc. as a senior executive, and rose to become President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Zelnick also served as Vice President, International Television for Columbia Pictures. Mr. Zelnick holds an MBA and a JD from Harvard University and a BA from Wesleyan University.
Mr. Zelnick is an associate member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and served on the Board of Directors of the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America.
Karl Slatoff, an Executive Vice President of Take-Two since 2008, has been named to the newly created role of Chief Operating Officer of the Company, effective October 25, 2010.
Mr. Slatoff was named Chief Operating Officer in October 2010. He had served as an Executive Vice President of Take-Two since February 2008. Mr. Slatoff is a partner at ZelnickMedia who specializes in the area of music, direct marketing, broadcast television and radio, interactive entertainment and new media.
Mr. Slatoff most recently served as Vice President, New Media for BMG Entertainment, one of the world's largest music companies whose labels include Arista Records, RCA Records and J Records and is home to such worldwide superstars as Whitney Houston, Annie Lennox, Christina Aguilera, Santana, Sarah McLachlan and the Dave Matthews Band, among many others.
Mr. Slatoff joined BMG in 1998 as Manager, Corporate Development. In this position he worked closely with the company's then President and CEO Strauss Zelnick on a variety of corporate development initiatives. Before joining BMG, Mr. Slatoff worked in strategic planning at the Walt Disney Company.
Mr. Slatoff was also an active member of the integration team for Disney's 1996 acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC. Prior to Disney, Mr. Slatoff worked in the corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions units at Lehman Brothers where he focused on the consumer products and retail/merchandising industries. ■