Discord Creator Steps Down as CEO to Focus on New Future for Company

Discord co-founder Jason Citron is stepping down as CEO. His successor will be former Activision Blizzard and King executive Humam Sakhnini, who has extensive experience in the gaming industry. The Verge reports that the leadership change will take place on April 28, but Citron will remain on the board and advise the new CEO.

Image source: discord.com

In a message to employees published on the Discord website, Citron explained his decision to leave by realizing that Discord was entering a new phase of its operations and that for the sake of the overall success of the company, a new leader who was ready to take on serious challenges was absolutely necessary.

Let us recall that Citron has been leading Discord since 2015, that is, since its founding. Under his management, the platform has grown to 200 million active users per month and almost 900 employees. The second co-founder of the company, Stanislav Vishnevsky, will retain the position of technical director.

In a statement, the company’s new CEO, Sakhnini, said: “I’m excited to work with the talented team at Discord and scale the business while staying true to the company’s mission and its special connection to gaming communities. We’re just at the beginning of an era where games define entertainment and culture, and Discord is ideally positioned to play a key role in that journey.”

Interestingly, the leadership change comes amid rumors of Discord possibly going public. In an interview with GamesBeat, Citron did not confirm specific plans for a public offering, but he did hint: “As you can imagine, bringing in someone like Sakhnini is a step in that direction.”