Activision Blizzard Names Microsoft Veteran Dennis Durkin as CFO
Activision Blizzard, a worldwide online, PC, console, handheld and mobile game publisher, has named Microsoft veteran Dennis Durkin as chief financial officer (CFO), reporting to Bobby Kotick, chief executive officer (CEO). Durkin assumes the position from Thomas Tippl, who has been serving as CFO positon on an interim basis since his promotion to chief operating officer (COO) in 2010. As COO, Tippl will continue to oversee Activision Publishing’s and Blizzard Entertainment’s operational activities, as well as the company’s strategic planning, global sales and supply chain, IT, legal and human resources (HR) departments.
Durkin has been at Microsoft since 1999, most recently as corporate vice president, COO and CFO of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business (IEB), which includes Xbox. During his nearly six-year tenure in IEB, he was a member of the IEB’s leadership team, which is credited with turning the business from a significant operating loss to greater than US$1bn in annual profit. In his role, Durkin was specifically responsible for managing the overall business unit’s profit and loss, coordinating global business development activities and ensuring the operational efficiency of the division.
Prior to joining the IEB/Xbox business in 2006, Durkin worked on Microsoft’s corporate development and strategy team, including two years where he was based in London driving pan-European activity. Before joining Microsoft, Durkin was a financial analyst at Alex Brown and Company. He holds an MBA from Harvard University and a Bachelor’s degree in Government from Dartmouth College.