After a three-year stint as chairman of the board, Kenneth Cron is calling it quits and will step down from his position. In his place, Shari Redstone, the largest shareholder at Midway, will be taking on the role of the new chairperson of the company.
Cron stated that his reasons for leaving were due to family and business commitments, however, a quick look at how Midway performed during his tenure, which started in 2004, shows that Midway consistently lost money from 2004-2007. In comparison, the year previous to his arrival posted a substantial upsurge of revenue for the company.
In his leaving statement, Cron said:
"It has been a privilege to serve as chairman of Midway for several years and I have enjoyed working with my colleagues on the board and with the management team. I continue to believe in Midway’s future and, under the guidance and direction of the board, I feel confident that Midway will build that future successfully. In view of my other significant business and family commitments, I felt that the end of this year was the best time for me to complete my service on the Midway Board of Directors."
Redstone offered a warm farewell:
"On behalf of Midway and our board of directors, I wish to extend my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Ken for his outstanding contributions and years of service as a director and chairman. All of us greatly value our continuing relationship with Ken and look forward to working with him again in the future."
Redstone is currently a member of Midway’s Compensation Committee and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee while also holding the position of vice chair of Viacom and CBS Corporation.
As far as the company’s direction for 2008, Redstone said, "…we plan to release an impressive slate of games and I will work closely with management and my fellow board members to continue pursuing exciting growth opportunities for Midway."
