Cynthia Williams, Wizards Of The Coast President, Resigns
On April 17th, Rascal News reported that Wizards of the Coast President Cynthia Williams is officially stepping down. She will be resigning from the position on April 26th, according to a report by the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission.
Details are still formulating at this time, but Wizards of the Coast reached out to ComicBook.com; in a statement, this is what they had to say to that outlet:
"We're excited for Cynthia to take the next step in her career and grateful for the contributions she has made in her more than two years at Wizards and Hasbro. We wish her the absolute best in her next endeavor. We have started the search for our next President of Wizards of the Coast and hope to have a successor in place soon."
Williams led the company to earn over $1 billion for its parent company, Hasbro in just two years. She originally took over the position from now-Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks. She oversaw Wizards of the Coast's various digital innovations as President, namely the purchase of D&D Beyond, a major acquisition for Dungeons & Dragons. During her time as Wizards' President, she also saw some controversies befall Wizards, including Wizards dispatching Pinkerton agents to a YouTuber's home to retrieve Magic: The Gathering product sold prematurely.
Yes, Wizards of the Coast did send Pinkerton agents to a YouTuber’s house to retrieve leaked Magic cards https://t.co/TDlZoH5EuF pic.twitter.com/EMTOXjkncw
— Polygon (@Polygon) April 24, 2023
Furthermore, in 2022, activist investors at Alta Fox tried to have Wizards of the Coast break from Hasbro ownership and ultimately failed. This was also during Cynthia Williams' time as President of Wizards. In 2023, Alta Fox's Twitter account posted that Williams "had never played MTG" before Chris Cocks appointed her.
Chris Cocks handpicked Cynthia Williams to lead WOTC even though she had never played MTG. This is on him. Cocks has managed to alienate both MTG and D&D fans in such a short period of time. One of the worst starts to a CEO tenure of recent memory. https://t.co/uaq5RDXdsx
— Connor Haley (@AltaFoxCapital) January 27, 2023
Even amid various controversies and other issues (including last year's layoffs), Williams has proven to be a major industry player. Before becoming President of Wizards of the Coast, she worked at Amazon and Microsoft in high-ranking roles. It is unclear where Williams will go next, nor who she will appoint as the next President of Wizards. However, as of the time of writing she has approximately nine days to announce her successor.
We wish Cynthia Williams the best as she moves from Wizards of the Coast to other ventures.