Apple Corps Ltd., the company overseeing the Beatles‘ business and creative interests, has found its new CEO. Tom Greene was announced as the company’s new leader Tuesday morning, set to fill a role that had been vacant since former longtime CEO Jeff Jones stepped down last year after 17 years.
The appointment won’t be effective immediately; Tuesday’s announcement said Greene will officially step into the role in September.
Greene comes to Apple Corps from BLAST, an e-sports company where he served as COO. Prior to his four years with BLAST, he was associated with the Harry Potter franchise, having been first in charge of Pottermore Publishing, then of Wizarding World Digital, a joint venture between Warner Bros and Pottermore.
In a group statement, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Olivia Harrison and Sean Ono Lennon joined together to say: “We are thrilled to welcome Tom Greene as CEO. We have a lot of exciting plans and Tom’s experience and vision make him the perfect person to join us in making it all happen.”
Greene said, “It is a huge honor to lead Apple Corps into this new phase of its history. Like so many people around the world, I grew up in a household obsessed with the Beatles and their music. At a time when the world might need more of the Beatles’ spirit, there are so many new and innovative ways to bring their unique magic to all generations of fans. I cannot wait to get started.”
Apple Corps has kept up a robust slate not just with archival music releases but moving more into other media, foremost among the projects going forward being director Sam Mendes’ four biopics of the individual Beatles, set for release in April 2028 through Sony Entertainment.
In making the announcement, Apple Corps pointed to BLAST — described as “a competitive entertainment company working with the biggest video game developers and publishers in the world on the production, commercialization and audience growth of their esports programmes” — having “grown twentyfold” during Greene’s time at the company. Greene began as BLAST’s chief growth officer in August 2021 before being elevated to COO two years later.
Apple Corps also said that by the time Greene left Wizarding World Digital in July 2021, “the Harry Potter Fan Club had grown to over 50 million members, supported by immersive digital experiences, daily content publishing and an innovative ecommerce offering.” The exec remains on the board of Pottermore, Apple Corps said. Greene was group commercial director for Pottermore from 2015 through 2018, then moved to Wizarding World Digital, where he acted as COO, then general manager.
Prior to his experience with the Harry Potter franchise, Greene was the inventor of Market Meltdown, a board game about a financial crisis that came out in the U.K. in 2012. Greene’s educational background includes degrees from the University of Oxford.
The appointment of Greene certainly represents the Beatles’ passing of the torch to a new generation that came of age in the digital era; while Jones grew up during the 1960s lifetime of the Beatles, who officially broke up in 1970, its new CEO was born decades after the group’s original heyday.
Jeff Jones announced he was leaving the company last fall after a 17-year run. Recently on his LinkedIn page, he wrote, “I recently had dinner with a few music business friends who I hadn’t seen in quite awhile. One of them inquired, ‘How is everything going at Apple, and what’s the next Beatles project?’
In that moment, I humbly realized that not everyone is aware that I had stepped down from my role as CEO of Apple Corps after almost 18 years. Working for the Beatles was an absolute dream come true.
I want to express my gratitude to everyone who has heard the news and reached out to offer their best wishes…. Over the past few months, I’ve taken some time off to reflect on the future and explore the possibilities for myself and my family after over four decades in the entertainment industry. I’m looking forward the next adventure of my professional and personal journey.”
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