BAYC creator Yuga Labs has appointed Daniel Alegre as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective in the first half of 2023. He succeeds Nicole Muniz, who will stay on as a partner and strategic advisor to the company. Alegre will work closely with Yuga Labs founders Wylie Aronow and Greg Solano in continuing to grow the business.
Yuga Labs said that it will expedite its ambitious vision for blockchain gaming, metaverse development, and community-building under Alegre’s leadership. Alegre appointment as the new CEO comes at a time when the company is facing a class action lawsuit for unrealistically hyping up the value of its NFTs.
Yuga Labs is a web3 company which owns some of the most iconic projects including Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), CryptoPunks, and Meebits. Since their launch in April 2021 with flagship collection Bored Ape Yacht Club, they’ve made headlines as one of the first companies to release IP licenses to their NFT holders, acquired and released rights to other top collections (CryptoPunks and Meebits).
Bored Apes are so popular and iconic that instead of hiring the ‘average’ influencer or celeb, a new crypto exchange XBO.com decided to make a Bored Ape NFT their Brand Ambassador via an audition.
Yuga Labs made web3 history with record-breaking synchronized player participation in their newest initiative, Otherside. One of the most ambitious interactive metaverse projects to date, Otherside is built with the community, rebelling against traditional walled gardens in gaming spaces.
In March 2022, Yuga Labs raised a $450M seed round at a $4B valuation.
In just two years, Yuga Labs has achieved mainstream success by leading the web3 industry as a creative force that pushes the boundaries of NFT technology. Yuga made clear its ambitious metaverse plans earlier this year when they announced Otherside, a gamified metaverse inspired by MMORPGs. The company has scaled quickly to help make that dream a reality and will benefit from Alegre’s 25-plus years of experience building global, disruptive, and successful customer and community-centric businesses.
Alegre has served as President and COO of Activision Blizzard overseeing international delivery and commercialization of franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, and Candy Crush since early 2020.
Prior to Activision Blizzard, Alegre also spent over 16 years at Google where he was the company’s President of Global and Strategic Partnerships, President of Shopping, and Payments as well as President of Asia Pacific and Latin America throughout his career there.
Commenting on the news, Yuga Labs co-founder Wylie Aronow, said: “Nicole, Greg, and I have been on the hunt for someone with Daniel’s skill set for some time. The business, our ambitions, and the complexity of the work have grown beyond our wildest expectations. We are thrilled to have him join the team to help with our vision of a truly interoperable metaverse.”
“Daniel has held one of the highest level roles at one of the largest gaming companies in the world. He brings valuable experience across entertainment, e-commerce, and global strategic partnerships – all of which are critical aspects of an immersive web3 world built by creators and for creators,” Wylie added.
“Since exploding onto the scene with Bored Ape Yacht Club in 2021, Yuga Labs has quickly made a name for itself through a powerful combination of storytelling and community-building,” said Alegre.
“The company’s pipeline of products, partnerships, and IP represents a massive opportunity to define the metaverse in a way that empowers creators and provides users with true ownership of their identity and digital assets. I look forward to working with the passionate, creative team at Yuga to innovate, inspire, and shape the future of the internet together,” Alegre added.
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