BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Lucy Hood, CEO of Jamba and President of Fox Mobile Entertainment, announced her resignation today. Jamba COO Lee Fenton will assume her duties until a new CEO is appointed.
“It’s been extremely exciting and rewarding for me to help build News Corporation’s mobile business over the past few years,†said Hood, “but I’m eager to pursue more entrepreneurial ventures and I’m looking forward to the next opportunity.â€ÂÂ
“Lucy has been a key architect of News Corp.’s mobile strategy over the past few years and we’re grateful for her many contributions to our business,†said Peter Chernin, President and Chief Operating Officer of News Corporation.
Hood, who has been with News Corp. for more than a decade, helped launch Fox Mobile Entertainment in 2005, leading a team responsible for such wireless firsts as text voting on American Idol, inventing the Mobisode® – short movies specifically made for the mobile phone - and offering the first sponsored video content in the United States.
She also oversaw News Corp.’s strategic move into global mobile entertainment in 2006 as a joint venture partner in Jamba, an alliance that merged Fox Mobile Entertainment with Jamba assets to form the first vertically integrated mobile entertainment company.
About Jamba
Jamba is one of the world’s leading providers of mobile entertainment able to reach one in six consumers around the globe. With a wide offering of mobile products and services available directly via mobile phones, Jamba connects people with their passions in 35 countries on five continents and in 23 languages. Branded popular content from around the world including The Simpsons and The Simple Life, the latest content from major media companies, including chart-topping ringtones from top music labels, mobile games from renowned game developers, and original content made exclusively for mobile phones, allows Jamba to give consumers what they want, when they want it and where they want it. Jamba is a joint venture between News Corporation (NYSE:NWS) (NYSE:NWS.A) and VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) and headquartered in Beverly Hills, Calif.
LUCY HOOD, Chief Executive Officer, Jamba
Lucy Hood is chief executive officer (CEO) of Jamba, the mobile industry’s largest vertically integrated mobile entertainment company. Hood was appointed to this position in September, 2006 after spearheading News Corporation’s efforts to acquire a controlling interest in Jamba from VeriSign. Lucy Hood is known as an innovative industry leader in wireless, and as a key architect of News Corp’s mobile strategy.
Under Hood’s leadership, Jamba, whose reach extends to one billion people in 25 languages, offers the world's widest selection of popular mobile entertainment, including content from media companies such as Universal Music, Warner Music, MTV, Sony/BMG and Disney Entertainment. Jamba will also continue to offer unique, original and made-for-mobile content offerings, with the addition of content from News Corporation’s 60 divisions. Jamba’s most recent success is the release of The Simpsons Mobile – which launched globally day and date in 35 countries in July.
Hood started her career at News Corporation over a decade ago and has been a key executive in launching numerous technology businesses at Fox and News Corporation including Fox Pay Television, Fox.com, FX Cable and News Corp Content Group.
Prior to becoming CEO of Jamba, Hood was president of Fox Mobile Entertainment which she founded in 2005. During this time Hood created many industry firsts, including leading the groundbreaking “American Idol†mobile efforts, which introduced text messaging to the mass population in the United States. Hood also received the first and only Emmy nomination for mobile content with the mobile video series “24:Conspiracy,†and led the team that created Mobisodes and the first ad-sponsored mobile video.
Hood is a keynote speaker at major industry events and business conferences around the world. She is regularly featured in lists of key influential executives, including Billboard’s Top Ten Digital Executives, the Mobile Entertainment Top 50 and Digital Entertainment Top 50. She is a member of the Leadership Council of the Board of Advisors for the CTIA and is a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Hood holds an M.B.A. from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business and a B.A. degree in English and Theatre from Yale University. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children.