Blizzard said goodbye to the second chief finance officer this week after Amrita Ahuja left the company. Ahuja has moved on to Square Inc., a payment solution firm that’s run by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. Blizzard is yet to confirm who will take over Ahuja’s responsibilities as CFO.
Okay, saying it’s the second CFO to leave Blizzard is only partly true: Though Spencer Neumann was fired as CFO at the start of the week, he acted on behalf of Activision-Blizzard, while Ahuja worked solely for Blizzard. Still, it’s a move that brings Ahuja’s eight-year stay with Blizzard to an end. During this spell, Ahuja oversaw a range of financial responsibilities for strategic and investment roles at the company. That was something that her new employer has obviously taken note of, as Jack Dorsey said that Ahuja’s induction to Square Inc. means that, “we have found an amazing, multidimensional business leader.”
Ahuja’s absence is the latest blow to what’s been a less-than-ideal period for Blizzard. With Spencer Neumann leaving their partnership office, an apparently frayed relationship with its fans, and a reported drop in its share prices, new CEO J. Allen Brack must be feeling a little lonely as of late. It’s difficult to pinpoint what has caused Blizzard to go through such a turbulent phase as it has in recent weeks, though the decline does seem to be, at least in part, a reaction to Mike Morhaime’s reign as CEO coming to an end. Reports of Activision having a larger role in the day to day business at Blizzard could be another origin. Whether or not these perceived shockwaves continue throughout the company much longer or if it’s simply a period of natural change remains to be seen.
Blizzard has not yet confirmed who Ahuja’s replacement will be. Earlier this week, Activision-Blizzard replaced Spencer Neumann with Dennis Durkin. As to who might replace Ahuja, we aren’t sure, but it’ll most likely be an internal hire rather than Blizzard looking elsewhere for talent.
