Lawrence Francis Probst III (born June 3, 1950) is an American businessman who served as CEO of video game publisher
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...
from 1991 until 2007, and as executive chairman from 2013 to 2015.
He continued to serve as
chairman of the board
The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...
of EA until 2021, when he was succeeded by CEO
Andrew Wilson. Probst also served as chairman of the
United States Olympic Committee
The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) for the United States. It was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado ...
until 2019.
Life
Probst was born on July 3, 1950 to Ruth (née Gallagher) and Lawrence Francis Probst II. He and his wife Nancy have two sons. Probst earned a bachelor's degree from the
University of Delaware
The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...
.
Entertainment career
Probst worked for
Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical technologies corporation headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Its common stock is a c ...
and
Clorox
The Clorox Company (formerly Clorox Chemical Company) is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional products. As of 2024, the Oakland, California-based company had approximately 8,000 employees worldwide. N ...
before being recruited into the
video game industry
The video game industry is the tertiary industry, tertiary and quaternary industry, quaternary sectors of the entertainment industry that specialize in the video game development, development, marketing, distribution (marketing), distribution, ...
through
Activision
Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...
in 1982.
Electronic Arts
In 1984 Probst joined EA as vice president for sales, a position he held until 1986. He then took on the role of the company's senior vice president of the publishing division from 1986 until 1990. Probst was promoted to president of
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...
in 1990, remaining in that position until 1997. In 1991, Probst also became CEO of
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...
, a position he held until April 2007.
''
Next Generation'' named his one of the "75 Most Important People in the Games Industry of 1995", remarking that "Probst may not be as colorful a character as his predecessor
nowiki/>Trip Hawkins">Trip_Hawkins.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Trip Hawkins">nowiki/>Trip Hawkins but he does seem adept at combining the freedom and daring of creativity with the restraints and common sense of a commercial operation."
When president (corporate title)">president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
and chief operating officer John Riccitiello resigned in April 2004, Probst became his successor. Riccitiello was re-hired as CEO in 2007, Probst retained his non-operational duties as chairman. He then worked as executive chairman of Electronic Arts from March 18, 2013, to January 1, 2015.
According to EA's 2005 Annual Report, Probst is the biggest individual shareholder in EA, owning 739,761 shares and the right to acquire a further 3.1 million, which combined accounts for 1.2 percent of the company.
In addition to his work at
, Probst also served as the chairman of Digital Entertainment Corporation of America. Probst sits on the boards of two cancer research groups: the
. Five years after his appointment as chairman of the USOC, Probst was elected as an
in September 2013. Probst worked with many other IOC groups as well. Probst has served on the IOC International Relations and the IOC Radio and Television Commissions. He assumed the position of chair of the IOC Press Commission in 2014. At the end of 2018 Probst retired from his IOC and USOC positions.