Daniel Alegre has been appointed as the new CEO of Yuga Labs, the company behind the popular NFT collections, Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks. Alegre, a former executive of gaming giant Activision Blizzard, resigned as president and chief operating officer to join the NFT startup in April 2023. He has held leadership positions at Bertelsmann and Google and was instrumental in overseeing popular gaming franchises like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Candy Crush. In his LinkedIn profile, Alegre mentions working for Google for more than 16 years in various leadership positions in the Asia Pacific and Latin America, where he oversaw areas like global shopping revenue, retail ecosystem engagement, and operations.
Yuga Labs had announced Alegre’s arrival in December 2022, where he said, “the company’s pipeline of products, partnerships, and IP [intellectual property] represents a massive opportunity to define the metaverse.” While this move is considered bold for the NFT industry, Yuga Labs is not without its challenges. In December 2022, a class-action lawsuit accused BAYC creators of misleading investors about the financial benefits of Yuga securities and using celebrity promoters to lure in more investors. Yuga Labs co-founder Wylie Aronow also took a leave of absence in January due to health issues, leaving his return date unclear. Nevertheless, Alegre’s appointment is expected to boost Yuga Labs’ metaverse efforts.
