Funko Appoints Cynthia Williams Chief Executive Officer, Board Member
Funko, Inc. (Nasdaq: FNKO), a leading pop culture lifestyle brand, today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Cynthia Williams as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective May 20, 2024. Williams is also expected to join the Funko Board of Directors on that date. Michael Lunsford will remain the company's Interim CEO until Ms. Williams joins the company in May.
Williams will bring nearly two decades of senior leadership experience across the consumer products, gaming and e-commerce industries. Most recently, Williams served as president of Hasbro's Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Gaming division, where she oversaw the company's portfolio of games that includes Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, and Monopoly. During her tenure at Hasbro, Williams successfully scaled areas of growth and positioned the Gaming division for continued success amid evolving consumer demand. Prior to that, Williams spent several years at Microsoft, most recently as General Manager and Vice President, Gaming Ecosystem Commercial Team, where she drove the significant expansion of Xbox Gaming. Earlier, Williams was a senior executive at Amazon for over a decade, where she played a key role in the global growth of their e-commerce direct-to-consumer business, Fulfillment by Amazon.
"After a thorough and comprehensive search process, we are thrilled to welcome Cynthia as our CEO," said Jesse Jacobs, chairman of Funko's nominating and corporate governance committee and a partner and co-founder at The Chernin Group, which owns approximately 25% of Funko's common stock. "Cynthia has served in a variety of senior leadership roles with some of the largest and most well-respected companies in the world. She has a deep understanding of pop culture, entertainment and fandoms, with a proven background in building consumer brands, developing worldwide strategies and driving global growth. We are confident Cynthia has the experience, leadership capabilities and strategic vision to guide Funko into the future."
"We thank Mike for his many contributions," said Charles Denson, Funko's Chairman. "Under his leadership, Funko has refocused its business on core assets, lowered its debt levels and substantially improved margins. With Funko now on a solid foundation, Cynthia will come in and drive the company to the next phase of growth and profitability. I know Cynthia is the right choice to lead Funko going forward and we know Mike and Cynthia together will ensure a seamless transition for all our stakeholders."
"I am honored to lead Funko, a company celebrated for its history of creativity and innovation on behalf of a passionate fan base," said Williams. "Funko has built a portfolio of valuable global brands, and I am energized about this unique opportunity to help Funko fully realize its potential. My extensive experience with the devoted fans of Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, and Xbox will be highly beneficial in developing products that continue to appeal to Funko's passionate fans, both core fans and collectors. I'm eager to work with the Board, management team and our employees around the world to further strengthen our brands and deliver value to our stockholders."
The CEO search process was led by True Search, a global executive recruiting firm.
ABOUT FUNKO:
Headquartered in Everett, Washington, Funko is a leading pop culture lifestyle brand. Funko designs, sources and distributes licensed pop culture products across multiple categories, including vinyl figures, action toys, plush, apparel, housewares and accessories for consumers who seek tangible ways to connect with their favorite pop culture brands and characters. Learn more at www.funko.com, and follow us on X (@OriginalFunko) and Instagram (@OriginalFunko).
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including statements regarding our chief executive officer transition and the anticipated timing thereof; expectations regarding the Company's growth and profitability; expectations regarding product development; and expectations regarding delivering value to stockholders. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the following: our ability to execute our business strategy; our ability to manage our inventories and growth; our ability to maintain and realize the full value of our license agreements; impacts from economic downturns; changes in the retail industry and markets for our consumer products; our ability to maintain our relationships with retail customers and distributors; our ability to compete effectively; fluctuations in our gross margin; our dependence on content development and creation by third parties; the ongoing level of popularity of our products with consumers; our ability to develop and introduce products in a timely and cost-effective manner; our ability to obtain, maintain and protect our intellectual property rights or those of our licensors; potential violations of the intellectual property rights of others; risks associated with counterfeit versions of our products; risks related to management transitions; our ability to attract and retain qualified employees and maintain our corporate culture; our use of third-party manufacturing; risks associated with climate change; increased attention to sustainability and environmental, social and governance initiatives; geographic concentration of our operations; risks associated with our international operations; changes in effective tax rates or tax law; our dependence on vendors and outsourcers; risks relating to government regulation; risks relating to litigation, including products liability claims and securities class action litigation; any failure to successfully integrate or realize the anticipated benefits of acquisitions or investments; future development and acceptance of blockchain networks; risks associated with receiving payments in digital assets; risk resulting from our e-commerce business and social media presence; our ability to successfully operate our information systems and implement new technology; risks relating to our indebtedness, including our ability to comply with financial and negative covenants under our Credit Agreement, as amended; our ability to secure additional financing on favorable terms or at all; the potential for our or our third party providers' electronic data or the electronic data of our customers to be compromised; the influence of our significant stockholder, TCG, and the possibility that TCG's interests may conflict with the interests of our other stockholders; risks relating to our organizational structure; volatility in the price of our Class A common stock; and risks associated with our internal control over financial reporting. These and other important factors discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent management's estimates as of the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.
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