SAN FRANCISCO, April 10, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zynga Inc. (Nasdaq:ZNGA), a leading social game developer, today announced that the Company has appointed David Lee as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer effective April 14, 2014. Lee will oversee accounting, corporate finance and investor relations and will report directly to Chief Executive Officer Don Mattrick. Lee succeeds CFO and CAO Mark Vranesh who will be leaving the company. Lee will be working with Vranesh over the next month to ensure a seamless transition of responsibilities.<br /> "At the end of 2013, Mark Vranesh and I began working together on a CFO search. We viewed a lot of candidates, had a high bar and found a leader in David who will be a great addition to our team," said Don Mattrick, CEO of Zynga. "David has a deep understanding of business management and a sharp financial acumen that will be invaluable to Zynga's long term growth and success. He has a track record of fostering cultures of excellence and navigating business transformations through sound counsel and strategic planning. David is a seasoned financial executive whose two decades of experience will deepen our leadership capabilities and I am proud to welcome him to Zynga. I want to thank Mark for his numerous contributions to the Company over the last six years and we wish him the best in his future endeavors."<br /><br />"I am pleased with the progress we have made so far this year against our strategic frame of growing and sustaining our franchises, creating new hits and driving efficiencies. The year is off to a solid start and our teams have created a strong base for growth throughout 2014. We look forward to sharing details about our results and financial performance during our upcoming first quarter earnings announcement," said Mattrick.<br /><br />Lee, 42, brings to Zynga two decades of experience in finance, general management, strategic planning, growth investing, corporate restructuring and business transformations. He has a track record of helping turn companies around, and a proven ability to make smart decisions that ensure sustained financial success for corporations.<br /><br />"It is an honor to join Zynga during such a transformative time in the Company's history. Zynga reached impressive milestones in its first phase of growth, entertaining more than one billion people with its games and creating iconic, household brands with franchises like FarmVille and Words With Friends," said Lee. "Don and the leadership team have an ambitious vision anchored by a rich culture of innovation, and I look forward to working with them to build the next chapter of Zynga's growth."<br /><br />Lee most recently served as Senior Vice President of Enterprise Finance for Best Buy, where he was responsible for leading the company's corporate strategy, financial planning and analysis and treasury teams. Before joining Best Buy, Lee spent more than eight years at Del Monte Foods where he held several leadership positions across finance and general management including Senior Vice President of Strategy, where he oversaw corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, transformation and corporate affairs; Senior Vice President of Consumer Products, Vice President of Strategic Planning and Business Development, Vice President of Finance for Consumer Products and Vice President of Sales FP&A. During this time, Del Monte Foods rapidly transformed and ultimately delivered significant shareholder value to its public investors in the sale of the company to private equity.<br /><br />Before Del Monte Foods, Lee served as the Director of Strategic Planning at PG&E Corporation for three years, where he helped lead the company's successful corporate restructuring and turnaround out of bankruptcy. He also spent time creating and implementing consumer growth plans at the Leo Burnett Company, McKinsey & Company, Enterprise Venture Capital and Pacific Venture Capital.<br /><br />The Company will provide Q1 financial results during its upcoming earnings announcement on April 23, 2014.<br /><br />About Zynga Inc.<br /><br />Zynga Inc. is a leading developer of the world's most popular social games that are played by more than 100 million monthly consumers. The company has created evergreen franchises such as FarmVille, Zynga Casino and Words With Friends. Zynga's NaturalMotion, an Oxford-based mobile game and technology developer, is the creator of hit mobile games in popular entertainment categories, including CSR Racing, CSR Classics and Clumsy Ninja. Zynga games have been played by more than 1 billion people around the world and are available on a number of global platforms including Apple iOS, Google Android, Facebook and Zynga.com. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, Calif.