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."

 

[darjr]

This is also showing up at other news sites now.

From Rascal News.

BREAKING: Cynthia Williams, President of Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Gaming is resigning after two years, according to an SEC filing. Her successor is not yet announced. We have reached out for a comment about what this might mean for WotC.

investor.hasbro.com/node/36526/html

Rascal News (@rascalnews.bsky.social)

BREAKING: Cynthia Williams, President of Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Gaming is resigning after two years, according to an SEC filing. Her successor is not yet announced. We have reached out for a comment about what this might mean for WotC. https://investor.hasbro.com/node/36526/html

bsky.app

Comic book com story too.

Wizards of the Coast President Steps Down

Cynthia Williams will depart Wizards of the Coast at the end of this month.

t.co

 

[mamba]

Effective April 26, would be interested to know what caused this

 

[Meech17]

Interesting..

I'm going to send them my resume/cover letter.

 

[Lupin]

Hopefully the new boss, whomever they are, will actually allow the older edition SRDs to go into Creative Commons.

 

[darjr]

Wizards of the Coast President Steps Down

Cynthia Williams will depart Wizards of the Coast at the end of this month.

t.co

 

[Charlaquin]

Effective April 26, would be interested to know what caused this

Impossible to say, really. It could be as simple as just getting a better offer elsewhere, or something more dramatic, but either way we’ll probably never know.

 

[Cistern]

Starting to see this story pop up around the standard places. We'll likely not get the exact details as to "why", but an interesting development nonetheless.

 

[Kurotowa]

The corporate CEO President stepping down doesn't tell us a lot. Could be personal, could be business, and it may not even really matter. The big tell for the future is who gets tapped to be her replacement. That's the follow up that I'm going to be waiting for.

 

[Meech17]

The corporate CEO stepping down doesn't tell us a lot. Could be personal, could be business, and it may not even really matter. The big tell for the future is who gets tapped to be her replacement. That's the follow up that I'm going to be waiting for.

I feel that the abruptness tells us something, right?

Is it common for a company to have a CEO put in their two weeks notice and step down without a planned replacement? I don't know much about corporate dealings, but I feel like a lot of the time when you see this it's usually

"CEO steps down, will take place in 3-6 months, Person X is slated to take over for them. CEO will be involved in transition, staying on the board, etc."

At the very least this tells us something is up at WoTC/Hasbro right? You're correct, maybe Ms. Williams has personal issues to attend to, but that's still in the "Something is amiss" category, I think.