Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) Ended Higher Despite COO’s Resignation

Shares of Zynga Inc(NASDAQ:ZNGA) ended higher by 2.10% to $3.01, came off session low of $2.66.

Late Wednesday, Chief Operating Officer of Zynga Inc(NASDAQ:ZNGA), John Schappert has submitted his resignation, as revealed by the company in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. This move has been overshadowed by a recent shakeup in the management at Zynga.

Schappert was a former executive at Electronic Arts. The filing has made it clear that the resignation has not arisen from any disagreement with the company on any issue that is related to the operations within the company.

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However, followers of Zynga were not surprised after the company stated earlier in the month that Schappert has given up on a lot of game development responsibilities while Zynga has shuffled its top management posts after it recorded a net loss in its second quarter.

Zynga recently elevated its chief mobile officer, David Ko and executive vice president of games, Steve Chiang to top ranks.

The company has not yet named a replacement on Wednesday. CEO, Mark Pincus said in a statement that John has made priceless contributions to the gaming industry.

Zynga has reported a net loss in its second quarter in late July. The news has sent down shares by roughly 40%. This has also attracted a lot of shareholders lawsuits charging the company of misleading investors. The company has blamed its poor quarter on sudden alterations made in the algorithms of Facebook.

Zynga is one of the many internet startups that made their debut in late 2011. Schappert was hired by Zynga in May 2011 with a stock package and cash of more than $42.7 million. The package entailed the base salary of $300,000 the previous year. 

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Schappert was also mentioned in a legal case that was filed last week by his previous employer, EA. EA has charged Zynga of copying significant elements of the game ‘The Sims Social’. ZYnga has obtained secret development information by hiring top three employees including Schappert.