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."

 

[Alzrius]

I'll echo the sentiment that we'll probably never know what led to this, but does anyone have any insight into whether or not two years is an unusually short period of time to hold a position such as hers?

 

[Ibrandul]

WotC runs a survey that seems to have no purpose other than to answer the question, "Do our customers really hate us? How much?" and then shuts it down almost immediately—presumably after seeing early results coming in.

A few weeks later, president's abrupt departure is announced.

These two events might not be related.

 

[Gladius Legis]

Good riddance. I hope Chris Cocks follows her out the door in short order.

 

[Bolongo]

I'll echo the sentiment that we'll probably never know what led to this, but does anyone have any insight into whether or not two years is an unusually short period of time to hold a position such as hers?

At a company that's devoted to making TTRPGs, it's very unusual.
At a company that's devoted to wringing the maximum amount of money out of their customer base, it's just the usual churn.

 

[Gladius Legis]

Kinda wondering if Larian's decision to move on from Baldur's Gate was the final straw here. On top of everything else, of course (OGL, Pinkertons, etc.).

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

Just an observation - D&D has had kind of a rough time under the control of people named Williams. Maybe it's superstitious but let's not see if the pattern repeats a third time in the future.

 

[Queer Venger]

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

Thank you for sharing the great news!!
Im sure she has another corporate job lined up where she will monetize their agenda for another group of shareholders.

And honestly, what is with that picture with the soft filter?!?!?!?

 

[kevin_video]

ICv2 just released an article on this as well.
Wizards of the Coast President Resigns

 

[FrogReaver]

My guess it’s mostly stock related.

 

[Clint_L]

At the very least this tells us something is up at WoTC/Hasbro right?

Not really. There are all kinds of reasons that people leave jobs. Could be personal reasons. Could be she wanted to pursue a different direction in her career. Could be she got a better job. Could be a power struggle at Hasbro. Could be all sorts of things.

Trying to read the tea leaves and draw conclusions is pretty futile, IMO. Maybe more details will eventually be forthcoming, or she turns up in a new position and it is obvious why she left.