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Yves Guillemot

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Yves Guillemot
Guillemot in 2010
Born
Yves Marie Remy Guillemot

(1960-07-21) 21 July 1960 (age 64)
Carentoir, France
NationalityFrench
OccupationBusinessman
TitleChairman and CEO, Ubisoft

Yves Guillemot (born 21 July 1960[1]) is a French businessman who co-founded Ubisoft with his brothers Claude, Michel, Gérard and Christian in March 1986. He currently serves as the company's chairman and CEO.

Early life

Yves Guillemot grew up in a small village in Brittany (France). Guillemot's parents owned a farming business, where he and his brothers provided support in accounting, shipping, and delivery [2] As the business declined with challenging profit margins,[2] he and his brothers looked for ways to diversify.[3] Guillemot's older brother[which?] found some success selling compact disc audio. Where the family business was selling chemicals and parts to farmers, they also began selling computers, which soon included game software. When they realized that their French supplier was charging them twice the cost of what they could find in the United Kingdom, they started a mail order video games business in 1984.[2] The mail order business grew quickly.[2] In time, they were distributing games to retail stores,[3] who were eager to acquire games at a more reasonable cost.[2]

Career

After earning his business degree,[4] Guillemot and his brothers founded Ubisoft in 1986 to create games, recognizing the opportunity in a growing industry that they were also passionate about.[3]

Guillemot has been criticized as a central figure in the ongoing Ubisoft workplace sexual misconduct scandal. Although not personally implicated in the misconduct, internal communications revealed that he was aware of and tolerated it for years, "as long as these managers' results exceeds their toxicity level". He has been accused of using his position as CEO to cover for the misconduct of people named in various investigations.[5][6] An open letter from Ubisoft employees also criticized him for his lackluster response to the scandal, which included moving accused managers to other departments rather than dismissing them, as well as a reluctance to implement necessary changes to improve the workplace culture.[7]

In a January 2023 email to staff, Guillemot told employees to take responsibility for the company's forthcoming projects, asking that "each of you be especially careful and strategic with your spending and initiatives, to ensure we're being as efficient and lean as possible" while also saying that "the ball is in your court to deliver this line-up on time and at the expected level of quality, and show everyone what we are capable of achieving.[8][9] Union workers at Ubisoft Paris took issue with this message, calling for a strike and demanding higher salaries and improved working conditions.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ Thomson, Adam (14 February 2016). "Yves Guillemot, Ubisoft: assassin's siege". Financial Times.
  2. ^ a b c d e Bertz, Matt. "Ubi Uncensored: The History Of Ubisoft By The People Who Wrote It". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "Ubisoft CEO Talks 'Assassin's Creed,' Takeover Bids And More". Time. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  4. ^ "Yves Guillemot". IGN France (in French). Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  5. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (11 July 2020). "New report on Ubisoft reveals more shocking sexual harassment allegations". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 11 July 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  6. ^ Schreier, Jason (21 July 2020). "Ubisoft Family Accused of Mishandling Sexual Misconduct Claims". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 21 July 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  7. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (30 July 2021). "Ubisoft staff say company "continues to protect and promote known offenders and their allies"". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  8. ^ Gach, Ethan (11 January 2023). "Ubisoft Delays Skull And Bones, Cancels More Games, And Announces New Cuts". Kotaku. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  9. ^ Nightingale, Ed (12 January 2023). "Ubisoft stock falls following project cancellations". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  10. ^ Wales, Matt (17 January 2023). "Ubisoft Paris staff called to strike following CEO's "ball is in your court" comments". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
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