ComScore CEO Gian Fulgoni To Retire in Jan.

ComScore today announced that Dr. Gian Fulgoni, 69, its co-founder and chief executive officer, intends to retire as CEO on Jan. 31, 2018. Following his retirement, Fulgoni will take on an advisory chairman emeritus role and will also provide advisory services through Jan. 31, 2019, to ensure a smooth leadership transition.

The board has formed a committee to direct the search for a new CEO, which will be led by ComScore’s board chair, Sue Riley, and will also include directors Wesley Nichols and Michelle McKenna-Doyle. The committee will retain an executive search firm to assist in identifying and evaluating both internal and external candidates for the CEO role.

Riley said: “I would like to thank Gian for his many significant contributions since co-founding comScore in 1999. ComScore has become an industry leader and a trusted partner, and Gian’s leadership has been instrumental in making the Company what it is today. ComScore has enormous potential for future growth and I look forward to continuing to work with Gian to ensure a smooth transition as we look to identify a CEO who will take the Company to the next level. The board is determined to identify a strong successor who will be able to deliver additional value to our customers, shareholders and employees.”

Fulgoni said: “When I accepted the CEO role in August 2016, it was with the knowledge that in the near term I had to address the immediate challenges ComScore faced, but that at some future point we would need to recruit the company’s next-generation CEO. With much accomplished, a strong management team and board in place and the company focused on its business expansion, now is the time to begin the new CEO search.

“It’s been my privilege to have led ComScore as CEO through the challenges we have faced over the past 15 months and I want to thank our employees for their focus and hard work. The board has asked if I would resume my prior role as chairman emeritus upon my retirement and I’ve told them that I’d be delighted to do that. Further, I would like to thank Sue for her valuable work in helping to reconstitute the board and ensure that we complete our restatement process, and I look forward to working with her and the rest of the board to ensure a seamless transition.”

Fulgoni, a member of the company’s board since he co-founded the company in 1999, stepped into the role of CEO in August 2016. He had previously served as the company’s executive chairman of the board from 1999 to March 2014, and as chairman emeritus from March 2014 until August 2016.

ComScore plans to hold a conference call with investors and analysts in late November, in which Fulgoni, Riley and ComScore President-Executive Vice Chairman Bill Livek will provide an update on the company’s operational performance.