Sling Media CEO Blake Krikorian, Four Other Execs Leave Company
By Eric Fisher, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal
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Krikorian Among Execs
Leaving Slingbox |
BLAKE KRIKORIAN, Sling Media CEO & co-Founder, and four other senior execs are leaving the Echostar-owned technology company best known for the creation of the Slingbox. Departing along with Krikorian are Senior VP/Business Development JASON KRIKORIAN, Blake's brother; Sling Media Entertainment Group President JASON HIRSCHHORN and Chief Creative Officer BEN WHITE; and Sling VP/Sales GREGG WILKES. The resignations, disclosed to company staff late yesterday, arrive 16 months after Echostar bought the Bay Area company for $380M. Sling Media, formed in '04, soon shot to industry fame and sparked heavy debate through the Slingbox, which enables the placeshifting of TV signals to computers and mobile devices. “It was simply time,” Blake Krikorian said last night. “This is a good time to hand the reins over. ... When you sell a company, it’s not really yours anymore.” No future plans are established, but he said he is “excited to see what’s out there.” Krikorian: “It’s not just about business. I have a few ideas, but I also have some personal interests to pursue, I want to see what kind of things excite me, who might need help, what kind of volunteering avenues are there. I’m open to a lot of different possibilities.” While the senior execs had agreed to stay on for at least a year post-acquisition, the move does not come as a total surprise given industry whispers of divergence between the management styles of the Krikorians and EchoStar CEO CHARLIE ERGEN. Blake Krikorian declined to address that, saying, “The company is just coming off some very exciting news in recent days and is well positioned moving forward. There’s definitely a lot of momentum.” Sling last week at the Int'l Consumer Electronics Show and MacWorld convention announced several well-received additions to its product suite, including an EchoStar DVR with Slingbox functionality and a mobile Sling player for the iPhone.
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