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Draft:Ben Feder

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  • Comment: While more sources were added, almost all of them are interviews with Ben Feder. Interviews aren't typically acceptable as being notability establishing as they are essentially a sounding board for the subject to speak about themselves, which is not the independent and reliable coverage Wikipedia is looking for. The rest either do not meet the bar for reliability, are routine announcements relating to the organizations Ben Feder was apart of, or are sources which provide facts. None of these kinds of sources are notability establishing. —Sirdog (talk) 05:12, 21 April 2024 (UTC)

Ben Feder
BornJanuary 20, 1964
Education
OccupationBusinessman

Ben Feder (born January 20, 1964) is an American businessman. He is the founder and managing partner of the investment firm TIRTA and the former CEO of Take-Two Interactive. Feder has also served in various executive roles in the media and gaming industries.[1][2]

Early life and education

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Feder received his Bachelor of Arts in history from Columbia College in 1986. He continued his education at Oxford University and later earned a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School in 1991. [1][3]

Career

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After graduating from Harvard Business School, Feder worked at News Corporation and rose to the position of Executive Vice President.[1] He later founded MessageClick, a voice messaging technology company, and served as its CEO.[1] MessageClick was acquired in 2000 by Verso Technologies.[4]

In 2001, Feder co-founded ZelnickMedia with Strauss Zelnick, which later became ZMC, a private equity firm focused on media investments.[5]

In 2007, Feder was elected as CEO of publisher Take-Two Interactive when a group of shareholders replaced the current board.[6][7] As CEO of Take Two, Feder was responsible for the companies gaming franchises including the Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption and Mafia series, and was frequently interviewed in games media about the companies strategies and the broader game market.[8][9][10][11][12] [13][14][15][16][17] Feder promoted Take Two's adoption of motion technology for it's games, as seen in the Nintendo Wii, Playstation Move and Xbox Kinect.[18][19] In 2008, Feder was credited by Kotaku as helping turn around Take Two as it rose to be the third largest publisher in the industry. [20]

In 2010, Feder left Take Two to travel and pursue other interests.[21][22][23]

In October 2016, Feder joined Tencent Games as President of International Partnerships (North America).[1][24][2] He held board positions with Glu Mobile, Epic Games, Hirez Studios, and Bad Robot Games.

In 2018 Feder published his first book, Take off Your Shoes: One Man's Journey from the Boardroom to Bali and Back.[25] [26] [27][28] Kirkus Reviews described the book as a "refreshingly pleasant addition to the journals of self-discovery, with a timely focus on ecological stewardship".[29]

In 2020, Columbia University selected Feder for it's Odyssey Mentoring Program for students and alumni.[1]

In 2022, Feder founded TIRTA, a new venture fund investing in interactive entertainment.[30] TIRTA's investments include the game studios Gardens, Red Rover and Astrobeam, AI company Leonardo and infrastructure company Hadean. [31][32][33][34][35]

Personal life

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Feder married Victoria Lindenbaum in June 1994.[36] Feder is involved in various philanthropic activities and serves on the boards of organizations such as the New York Academy of Art, Save a Child's Heart, and the Jewish Community Project of Lower Manhattan.[37] [38][39]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Leadership Series: Ben Feder '86, Tencent Games". Columbia College. 28 October 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Glu Mobile Inc. Schedule 14A". SEC Edgar.
  3. ^ "Five Questions with Ben Feder, MBA 1991". Harvard Business School. October 2021.
  4. ^ "Verso Technologies to acquire MessageClick". Internet News. 3 November 2000.
  5. ^ "Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Announces Results of Annual Meeting". ZMC.
  6. ^ "Take-Two Holders Succeed in Board Coup". WSJ. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  7. ^ "Take Two: New Management Offers No Quick Fix". Barron's. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  8. ^ "Take-Two's Ben Feder". Eurogamer.net. 24 June 2009.
  9. ^ "Take-Two Interactive CEO says Red Dead Redemption breaks the Grand Theft Auto curse". VentureBeat. 28 June 2010. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  10. ^ "Take-Two CEO on Red Dead's Reception, BioShock 2 sales, and another Max Payne 3 delay". Shacknews. 28 June 2010. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  11. ^ "Interview: Take-Two". MCV. 15 June 2010. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  12. ^ "$2 billion bid for game maker rejected". Chron. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  13. ^ "Feder credits gaming press for setting tone of GTA discussion". GamesIndustry.biz. 18 July 2008. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  14. ^ "Take-Two Gets 'Informal' Interest Aside from EA". CNBC. 28 February 2008. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  15. ^ "Take-Two: Pachter Wrong, Mafia 2 Will Make a Profit". Escapist Magazine. 4 September 2010. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  16. ^ "Is the Wii a viable platform for M-rated games?". CNET. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  17. ^ "Take-Two's Ben Feder". GamesIndustry.biz. 11 June 2009. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  18. ^ "Take-Two: Motion technology will inspire software innovation". GamesIndustry.biz. 11 June 2009. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  19. ^ "Take-Two CEO Ben Feder: 3-D Gaming And Motion Controls". Fast Company. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  20. ^ "CEO Ben Feder on Turning Things Around at Take-Two". Kotaku. 16 July 2008. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  21. ^ "Grand Theft Auto maker Take-Two Interactive puts a new boss behind the wheel". VentureBeat. 29 October 2010. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  22. ^ "Take-Two Interactive's CEO stepping down, shares rise". Reuters. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  23. ^ Fritz, Ben (October 29, 2010). "Take-Two chief executive exits, to be replaced by chairman Strauss Zelnick". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 31, 2010. Retrieved October 31, 2010.
  24. ^ "Ben Feder Joins Tencent Games". Tencent.
  25. ^ "Take off Your Shoes". Ben Feder Author.
  26. ^ "The Riskiest Investment I Ever Made". Fortune. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  27. ^ "$1 tech executives". CNN. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  28. ^ "From Private Equity to Master Meditator: Leaving the Board Room for Bali". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  29. ^ "Take off Your Shoes". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  30. ^ "Axios Pro Q&A: Ben Feder launches investment firm Tirta". Axios. November 28, 2022.
  31. ^ "Indie Studio Gardens Raises $31 Million From Exceptional Syndicate". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  32. ^ "Red Rover secures $15M in funding". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  33. ^ "Astrobeam raises $3M for VR multiplayer games". VentureBeat. 8 November 2023. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  34. ^ "Leonardo AI secures funding for generative content production platform". Mediaweek. 7 December 2023. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  35. ^ "Hadean raises $5M for metaverse infrastructure solutions". VentureBeat. 23 March 2023. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  36. ^ "Weddings: Ms. Lindenbaum and Mr. Feder". The New York Times. 5 June 1994.
  37. ^ "Leadership". The New York Academy of Art.
  38. ^ "Our Team". Save a Child's Heart.
  39. ^ "Leadership". Jewish Community Project of Lower Manhattan.