EA appoints former Amazon CFO to reverse online losses

Jenson, who announced his departure from Amazon in March, saying that it was time for him to move on "to a new set of challenges", will now become EA's CFO and take responsibility for the continuation of profitability for the publisher's games titles for PCs and video consoles, and for turning around its online business. He replaces Stan McKee who had been with EA for the last 13 years.

Of the move, EA's CEO Larry Probst said in a written statement: "Interactive entertainment is a dynamic industry with new opportunities emerging every day. As EA moves through our next cycle of growth, Warren's experience, knowledge and background will be a tremendous asset."

Jenson had worked at Amazon since September 1999 and, as CFO, had presided over large losses until the online retailer recorded its first quarterly profit, in the last three months of last year. Since then, the group has fallen back into the red with a net loss of $23m in Q1 this year, but the company is still claiming that it is "ahead of schedule" financially.

In its Q4 results, EA saw revenue rising year-on-year from $307.3m to $469.7m, but saw its interactive division, EA.com, remain in the red with losses of $14.7m. The company recently announced that it is supporting Sony's online plans by building web functionality into various titles for the Playsation 2, and says that it is aiming to work out a similar scheme with software giant Microsoft for the Xbox.

Before his stint at Amazon, Jenson had been CFO at Delta Air Lines and at General Electric's NBC.

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