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RealNetworks finally gets new CEO: Thomas Nielsen

There's another new CEO in town, and this one is stepping in at RealNetworks.
Written by Rachel King, Contributor

RealNetworks has been without a permanent chief executive officer for the better part of 2011 -- until now.

The company that boasts it "invented the streaming media category" has appointed a new CEO and president: Thomas Nielsen.

Nielsen arrives several months after previous CEO Robert Kimball stepped down suddenly in March after basically restructuring the company and getting started on changing its strategy.

Up until now, Mike Lunsford has served as interim CEO, and he will now continue in a senior capacity at the company.

RealNetworks came close to announcing a new CEO back in July, but Tuesday's announcement is the first official peep since then.

Nielsen acknowledged in a prepared statement that "there's a lot of work to do" at RealNetworks, but he maintained an optimistic front by positing that the company has "unique assets upon which to build."

RealNetworks company founder and board chairman Rob Glaser added in the release that Nielsen was brought in because of his "extensive background in customer-driven product strategy and delivery to ensure RealNetworks' strategic plan is focused and optimized for growth."

Also slated to join the RealNetworks board of directors, Nielsen was most recently seen as vice president of the Digital Imaging Group at Adobe Systems. There, he was in charge of the business unit for Adobe's largest product line that covers Photoshop, Elements, and Lightroom as well as mobile, web, and tablet solutions.

Nielsen has also had lengthy stints at Microsoft and Canadian digital imaging software company MGI.

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