Trip Hawkins to Focus His Efforts on Struggling 3DO
Electronic Arts Chairman W.M. (Trip) Hawkins III announced Tuesday that he is leaving that post to work on the second business he founded, 3DO Co., a video machine developer that has lost $66.8 million since it went public last year.
Electronic Arts plans to name a new chairman to succeed Hawkins in July.
Both San Mateo, Calif.-based Electronic Arts and 3DO of Redwood City, Calif., develop and distribute 3DO software, and Hawkins is concerned about the potential conflict of interest, the company said in a news release.
“I have made the difficult decision to step down as chairman of Electronics Arts, the company I founded in 1982, to focus my time and energy on 3DO,” Hawkins said in the statement.
“Trip is reacting to reality,” said analyst John Taylor of L.H. Alton & Co., underscoring the conflict of interest potential as well as the slow start 3DO has had getting its technology off the ground.
Shares of Electronic Arts closed at $15.125, down 25 cents on Nasdaq. Last October, Electronic Arts traded at its all-time high of 42.
The biggest entertainment stories
Get our big stories about Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more right in your inbox as soon as they publish.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
