Electronic Arts 2007 Annual Report Download - page 21

John S. Riccitiello
Director since 2007
Mr. Riccitiello, age 47, has served as Chief Executive Officer and a director of EA since April 2007. Prior to
re-joining EA, he was a co-founder and Managing Partner at Elevation Partners, a private equity fund. From
October 1997 to April 2004, Mr. Riccitiello served as President and Chief Operating Officer of EA. Prior to
joining EA, Mr. Riccitiello served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the worldwide bakery division
at Sara Lee Corporation. Before joining Sara Lee, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of
Wilson Sporting Goods Co. and has also held executive management positions at Haagen-Dazs, PepsiCo, Inc.
and The Clorox Company. Mr. Riccitiello holds a B.S. degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
Richard A. Simonson
Director since 2006
Mr. Simonson, age 47, has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Nokia
Corporation, a manufacturer of mobile devices and a leader in mobile network equipment, solutions and
services, since 2004. From 2001 until 2003, Mr. Simonson served as Vice President & Head of Customer
Finance of Nokia. In 2001, Mr. Simonson was Managing Director of the Telecom & Media Investment
Banking Group of Barclays Capital. Prior to joining Barclays Capital, Mr. Simonson spent 16 years at Bank of
America Securities where he held various positions, including Managing Director & Head of Global Project
Finance, Global Corporate & Investment Bank, San Francisco and Chicago. Mr. Simonson holds a B.S. degree
from the Colorado School of Mines and an M.B.A. from Wharton School of Business at the University of
Pennsylvania.
Linda J. Srere
Director since 2001
Ms. Srere, age 51, is currently a marketing and advertising consultant. Previously, Ms. Srere was President of
Young & Rubicam Advertising. Since 1994, Ms. Srere held many positions with Young & Rubicam Inc.
(“Y&R”), including Vice Chairman and Chief Client Officer, Executive Vice President and Director of
Business Development, Group Managing Director, and in 1997, was named Chief Executive Officer of Y&R’s
New York office, becoming the first female CEO in the company’s 75-year history. Ms. Srere also serves on
the Board of Directors of aQuantive, Inc., a digital marketing services and technology company, and Universal
Technical Institute, Inc., a technical education provider.
DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE
Our Board has determined that each of our non-employee directors qualifies as an “independent director” as
that term is used in the NASDAQ Marketplace Rules. In addition, prior to his departure from our Board at the
2006 Annual Meeting, our Board had determined that Robert Pittman was an “independent director”.
Mr. Probst and Mr. Riccitiello do not qualify as independent because they are EA employees. The NASDAQ
Marketplace Rules have both objective tests and a subjective test for determining who is an “independent
director”. The objective tests state, for example, that a director is not considered independent if he or she is an
employee of the company or is a partner in or executive officer of an entity to which the company made, or
from which the company received, payments in the current or any of the past three fiscal years that exceed 5%
of the recipient’s consolidated gross revenue for that year. The subjective test states that an independent
director must be a person who lacks a relationship that, in the opinion of the Board, would interfere with the
exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. The Board has not
established categorical standards or guidelines to make these subjective determinations, but considers all
relevant facts and circumstances.
In addition to the board-level standards for director independence, the directors who serve on the Audit
Committee each satisfy standards established by the SEC providing that to qualify as “independent” for the
purposes of membership on that Committee, members of audit committees may not accept directly or
indirectly any consulting, advisory, or other compensatory fee from us other than their director compensation.
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