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| Michael Tamblyn | |
Effective January 1, Michael Tamblyn will become CEO of Rakuten Kobo Inc., succeeding Takahito "Taka" Aiki, who will remain with the company as chairman. Tamblyn has been a member of the executive team since Kobo's founding in 2009 and was named president in April 2014. He will continue to work closely with Aiki in a new role as vice executive manager of the companies in Rakuten's global e-book business, which include Kobo, Kobo Japan, OverDrive and Aquafadas.
"At Rakuten Kobo, we stand for readers, for the people who put books and reading at the very center of their lives. There could truly be no better job than to spend every day figuring out how to make a reader's life better," said Tamblyn. "I am also looking forward to my role in ensuring our parent company, Rakuten, achieves its vision of enriching every stage of a reader's life."
In addition to his role as chairman of Rakuten Kobo, Aiki will continue as managing executive officer of Rakuten's global e-book business. Aiki,who replaced Michael Serbinis as CEO in 2014, said he has "full confidence in the current executive to lead this company into the future. I very much look forward to working closely with Michael as CEO and as a partner guiding all of Rakuten's digital reading properties, to extend Rakuten's vision of global leadership in offering digital and internet services that connect people and empower society."