Nexon has announced that longtime representative director, president, and CEO Owen Mahoney will step down from his role in March 2024, following a decade-long tenure which has seen significant growth and global expansion. Mahoney will be replaced in his roles by studio veteran Junghun Lee.
Lee was unanimously nominated to his new role by Nexon’s board of directors, and will officially assume the position following Nexon’s annual general meeting of shareholders in March 2024, and subsequent appointment to the board. Mahoney will remain in his current positions until this time, after which he will seek reelection to the board and serve as a senior advisor.
“Leading Nexon for the last 10 years has been enormously satisfying, and with the company on such solid footing, now is the perfect time to hand over the reins to Junghun,” said Mahoney. “Nexon has never been stronger and has significant tail winds. And, our commitment to corporate governance means we have an extremely strong bench of leaders for the next generation. Junghun Lee is one of the most effective and successful executives in the entire global entertainment business, and the perfect leader for the next generation of Nexon’s growth.”
Leadership changes
Junghun Lee’s new position follows two decades of leadership and operational experience. Lee has served as CEO of Nexon’s biggest subsidiary, Nexon Korea, since 2018, and prior to this led the company’s live operations teams. Under his leadership Nexon successfully launched multiple successful products, including MapleStory M and Blue Archive, and his tenure as CEO additionally saw Nexon Korea’s revenue achieve a 19% compound annual growth rate from 2018 to 2022.
“I am honored and excited to lead the company into its next generation,” said Lee. “Our strong base of live Virtual World franchises has shown unprecedented growth and stability, our global team of operators and developers is world-class, and our demonstrated commitment to innovation in new game development as well as technology sets us up for a new generation of growth worldwide.
“This leadership transition comes at a time when Nexon is both stable and positioned for dynamic growth. Our global franchises are delivering steady revenue which we have invested in a powerful pipeline of new games in development that have potential to become global hits.”
Nexon title MapleStory M recently surpassed $55 million in revenue in its first 35 days on the Chinese market.
