Yuga Labs, the company behind the popular Web3 game Bored Ape Yacht Club, disclosed on Monday that former Activision Blizzard president and COO Daniel Alegre will be taking over as CEO, effective in the first half of 2023. Alegre announced his resignation in an 8K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.
A major change
Yuga Labs has pulled off an impressive corporate coup by convincing Alegre to join the blockchain technology firm. Alegre has been an integral part of Activision Blizzard’s leadership team since early 2020. He has contributed to creating iconic franchises like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, and Candy Crush. He also spent 16 years at Google in various leadership capacities.
“Throughout my career, I have sought to build disruptive and innovative platforms that provide long-term value to consumers,” Alegre said in a statement. “Web3 presents an opportunity to reinvent how content is used, transacted, and owned across the globe.”
For the Miami firm, Alegre’s role will be to speed up the development of Yuga lab’s lofty goals related to blockchain gaming, metaverse development, and community building. Alegre’s experience will complement Yuga’s recent attempts to create an interoperable, gamified metaverse world dubbed The Otherside.
“Daniel has held one of the highest level roles at one of the largest gaming companies in the world,” Wylie Aronow, co-foudner of Yuga labs, noted in a statement. “He brings valuable experience across entertainment, e-commerce, and global strategic partnerships, all of which are critical aspects of an immersive Web3 world built by creators and for creators.”
Alegre will succeed Nicole Muniz, who will become CEO of Yuga Labs in September 2021. Muniz will remain on as a partner and strategic advisor.
Back in March, Yuga labs acquired Meebits and CryptoPunks from Larva Labs. Last month, it acquired Beeple’s Web3 ecosystem WENEW and its flagship NFT project, 10KTF, further expanding its portfolio of NFT projects under Muniz. The firm has also secured $450 million in funding, headed by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), placing the firm at a $4 billion valuation.
