Take-Two Chairman Puts Stability First

Take-Two Interactive's(TTWO Quote) new boss, Strauss Zelnick, has been on the job just a few hours, but he has a plan to fix the troubled video game publisher.

His strategy?

Clean up the books, be compliant in accounting practices, trim excess costs with a look at possible workforce reductions, build out other businesses -- including the company's sports division -- and bring a new CEO on board within a year.

Zelnick was hand-picked by a group of Take-Two investors, including Oppenheimer Funds, S.A.C. Capital Management, Tudor Investment and D.E. Shaw Valence Portfolios, to lead the company after a shareholder vote late Thursday ousted former management.

A media and entertainment business veteran, Zelnick dabbled in video games years ago, but is now handed the responsibility of turning around Take-Two.

The first order of business, he says, will be to know the company and its employees better. "We need to stabilize the company at the corporate level and give stakeholders, both shareholders and employees, comfort that we will maximize the value of the company," says Zelnick.

Shares of Take-Two closed down 96 cents, or 4.5%, to $20.14 Friday.

On his first day as the chairman of Take-Two, Zelnick addressed all employees and promised to sustain the creative process that has helped the company create the blockbuster Grand Theft Auto series.

Moving forward, the goal, says Zelnick, is to ensure Take-Two becomes the most efficient and most creative of all game companies in the market.

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