WotC WotC President Cynthia Williams Resigns

Cynthia Williams, who has been president of Wizards of the Coast for the last two years, will be leaving the company at the end of the month, according to an SEC filing dated April 15th. Hasbro is already looking for somebody to step into the role.

Williams worked for Microsoft on the Gaming Ecosystem Commercial Team before joining WotC two years ago, stepping into the role that then-president Chris Cocks vacated when he was promoted to CEO of Hasbro in February 2022.

Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
On April 15, 2024, Cynthia Williams, President of Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Gaming, informed the Company of her resignation from the Company effective April 26, 2024. The Company is conducting a process to identify her successor, looking at both internal and external candidates.

According to Rascal News, WotC responded with a comment: "We’re excited for Cynthia to take the next step in her career and grateful for the contributions she has made in her more than two years at Wizards and Hasbro. We wish her the absolute best in her next endeavor. We have started the search for our next President of Wizards of the Coast and hope to have a successor in place soon."

 

[cranberry]

"Left to spend more time with her family" is usually code for a forced resignation.

Didn't see that, so it's probably voluntary.

 

[Meech17]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

After a very brief search, Wizards of the Coast, subsidiary of Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS) Gaming, announced today that it has selected David Williams to replace outgoing Cynthia Williams as company president.

Reached for comment, David Williams said he plans to embrace modern telecommuting culture by forging a bold path into the future for the Renton, Washington, based gaming company from the comfort of his secure cell at Boston Ridgegate Mental Facility.

Prior to joining the company, David Williams achieved success as a seasonal main antagonist on the ABC comedy-drama mystery television series Desperate Housewives. Portrated by actor Neal McDonough, he is excited to bring the leadership skills he demonstrated as landlord and motivational speaker to the commercial sector of tabletop gaming and online garden-wall construction, a spokesperson told Ibrandul News.

"David is a real visionary," the spokesperson added. "He frequently hallucinates."

I'm still gonna shoot my shot and apply.

Maybe seeing me as a real go-getter will give me a leg up. Can I put any of you guys down as a reference?

 

[Queer Venger]

I'm still gonna shoot my shot and apply.

Maybe seeing me as a real go-getter will give me a leg up. Can I put any of you guys down as a reference?

you can put me down, Venger as a reference always looks good on a gaming resume

 

[FrogReaver]

Just because the public was given two weeks notice, does not mean the board or Hasbro was given two weeks notice. She could have easily told them a year ago and nobody got around to find a replacements for her to train. Plenty of companies don't react to employees resignation plans/statements until actually forced to do so.
It's possible they knew nothing until she turned in a two week notice. Or it could be that her boss(es) have known for weeks and months and didn't announce it for a hundred different reasons.

I mean pretty much anything is possible. There are certain possibilities that are much less likely.

At that level of position typically the most pressing concern is that investors don’t get spooked. And while the bosses probably knew before the announcement - an extremely short announcement doesn’t send a great public message to investors, which is why under normal circumstances you likely wouldn’t see that done.

 

[Reynard]

Well, this news will certainly serve as reliable confirmation bias for pretty much anyone with any opinions or theories about the inner workings of WotC and/or the fate of the 2024 edition.

 

[pawsplay]

My guess is she was seeing writing on the wall, and she decided to quit so if they came after her it would look retaliatory. Or she just got bad health news. Those are just the two possibilities that spring to my mind.

Such short notice is rare. It makes sense if it's personal for her, if she is afraid of getting burned, or if she has a time-limited opportunity. Quitting abruptly to participate in some kind of IPO or start-up company is a possibility.

 

[Alzrius]

Quitting abruptly to participate in some kind of IPO or start-up company is a possibility.

Would that require resigning, though? Maybe I'm conflating this with sitting on boards (as opposed to being president of a company), but I thought it wasn't unknown for someone to hold positions with multiple companies simultaneously.

 

[pawsplay]

Would that require resigning, though? Maybe I'm conflating this with sitting on boards (as opposed to being president of a company), but I thought it wasn't unknown for someone to hold positions with multiple companies simultaneously.

She was at M$ before, so it could be gaming-related, which could be a conflict of interest. Also, sitting on multiple boards like a rich person is a little different than payout-hunting as part of a tight startup venture with plans for the original crew to cash out within a few years.

 

[Lupin]

Do we know it was something she personally prevented?

It was clearly de-prioritized by management, as it's been delayed into oblivion despite being "done in a day or two"-tier easy (for 3 & 3.5e SRDs, anyway).

One could argue the layoffs by management prevented it by way of loss of manpower, but I think that would only be an excuse for it and not a reason.

 

[GreyLord]

It was HER resignation.

For something quick it could be seeing that this year is a shaky year and may or may not match up to next year for various reasons.

It could be something more personal, perhaps she has news of cancer after her last screening and both she needs time to deal with it and HASBRO isn't exactly comfortable with all the time she would need for personal reasons and being out (and I do not expect they would EVER tell the public about something this private).

It could be a combination of things.

Whatever it is, I think there are several concerns they have going forwards.

1. Building Good PR with their customers.
2. The ability to match the desires of Hasbro in regards to Beyond and other electronic ventures
3. Building the various WotC brands and developing them into even greater powerhouses than they already are