Jagex Appoints Mark Gerhard as Chief Executive Officer

UK, Cambridge, 30th January, 2009 – Jagex today announced the appointment of Mark Gerhard as the new Chief Executive Officer following the resignation of Geoff Iddison earlier this month. Mark Gerhard, who currently serves as the Chief Technical Officer at Jagex, has been appointed to lead the company from 1st February.

“I have enjoyed working for Jagex immensely,” said Geoff Iddison. “The business remains at the cutting edge of the video games industry and its continued growth reflects the strong business model and the high calibre of people within the company. It was great to be part of a business which is shaping the industry in such a way.”

“On behalf of everyone at Jagex, I’d like to thank Geoff for everything he has brought to the business over the last 18 months, and wish him all the best with his future endeavours,” said Andrew Gower, Jagex Founder. “We have an exciting year planned for 2009 and are confident of continued success with Mark as our new CEO. Mark has performed exceptionally well since joining the company last year and I am sure that Jagex will continue to flourish under his leadership.”

Mark joined Jagex in February 2008 from GTECH where he served as the Principle Security Architect for the National Lottery. He has held numerous executive positions and has over 14 years experience working in the technology sector. “Having the opportunity to build on Jagex's phenomenal success is a great privilege and I'm honored by the boards’ endorsement,” said Mark Gerhard. “I fully intend to build value for Jagex, our players and our great staff.”

http://jagex.com/corporate/Press/releaseCEO_2.ws

So congratulations Mod MMG, and I wish you well in your role as CEO.

And here's a quote not in the press release:

^Mark Gerhard^

Employment history:
Chief Executive Officer at Jagex (February 2009 onwards)
Chief Technical Officer at Jagex (January 2008 - February 2009)
Security Architect at GTECH (October 2007 - January 2008)
Chief Technical Officer at Ministry of Data (November 2004 - October 2007)
Group Systems Manager at Sterling Relocation (September 2002 - November 2004)
Chief Operating Officer at Serious (July 2000 - April 2002)
Principal Consultant at Chromasonic Computer Centre Ltd (June 1999 - July 2000)
IT Director at Hospital I.T. Solutions (Pty) Ltd (January 1999 - May 1999)
Security Consultant at Rand Merchant Bank (October 1998 - December 1998)

Statement from last year regarding the North American servers:


Might be completely unrelated but Jagex's 2008 financial figures are due tomorrow.

So why'd Geoff leave?

Iddison's employment history is:
C.E.O at Jagex Ltd (August 2007 - February 2009) - 1 year 6 months
CEO PayPal(Europe) Ltd at eBay (May 2000 - July 2007) - 7 years 3 months
C.O.O. at Christie's Inc (December 1995 - May 1999) - 3 years 6 months
Managing Director at I.P.S.Ltd (January 1991 - December 1995) - 5 years
Head of Product Development, R&D at Crosfield Electronics (Dupont) (July 1984 - January 1991) - 6 years 7 months

...That would make his time at Jagex his shortest tenure on record.


He didn't say why he resigned.

Ohh no! Well Goodbye then :o. Goodluck Mark! I hope you do some great things there at JaGeX Ltd.

~Stan

Only stayed with them for 18 mounths??

It's a shame he didn't stay long enough to see the release.

Atleast it seems like he left on good terms, but then again looks can be deceiving.

This is very interesting. I wonder if there was an inner conflict that caused him to leave or if Iddison was just ready to move on.

I dont know why, but I really want to know why he stopped :(.

SuperStevee Posted Yesterday, 10:54 PM
It's a shame he didn't stay long enough to see the release.

Yeah, I agree HUGE on that! =/

~ Stan

So if Mark was the CTO and is now CEO, who becomes the new Chief Technical Officer? Do you think Jagex are going internal or advertising?

Chihiro Y is currently the Senior Technical Developer, Thomas S is Head of Systems Admin and Nick T is Head of Core Technologies. So they could go for one of those, but then it just leaves another highish-level vacancy, so they could go for someone less critical like just one of the better members of the Sysadmin or Web Systems teams.

Maybe I'm the only one who's interested in such things, I dunno.

http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=912399

^ Pic of Mark with a nice background and Jagex hoodie

Thanks, but that is the same one that Max posted.

I'm glad that he's gone now. I always found him a money 'freak'. No offence trough !! :)

~ Stan