Don Mattrick Seems To Have Had Eyes On Zynga For Years
Last week Don Mattrick, head of Microsoft’s entertainment division, made a startling career move. He decided to give up his somewhat cushy job at Microsoft and take on the challenge of turning around Zynga’s fortunes, and became the CEO for Zynga. At the time I speculated that there may have been some internal pressure to get him to quit Microsoft, but a new report has come out that suggests Zynga may very well have been a dream-job destination for Mattrick.
According to inside sources, Mattrick attempted to negotiate with Zynga’s founder Mark Pincus about buying out the company in 2010. At the time it was thought that the purchase would help shore up the Xbox with tons of social games. In the end, however, talks “ultimately fell apart” and Zynga has since continued to be an independent company.
I’ve got a feeling that right now Mattrick is wishing he was able to buy out Zynga all those years ago. In the last month Zynga has cut 18% of its workforce, and the company’s revenue is predicted to do nothing but drop for the next year. Mattrick definitely has his work cut out for him if he hopes to make the company into something profitable.
