ComiXology founder steps down after 15 years
David Steinberger, who co-founded ComiXology in 2007, announces his departure as CEO of the company.
ComiXology co-founder David Steinberger has announced he is stepping down as the company’s CEO after 15 years, hinting at a new role at Amazon.
“It’s been a big few weeks, and I have some personal news: I’ve been asked if I’d like to lead a new Amazon-wide initiative that’s too great an opportunity to pass up,” tweeted Steinberger. “It was a tough decision, but I’m ready for a new entrepreneurial challenge. I will always love comics and continue to be an advisor to ComiXology.”
Steinberger named Tom Ashley and Jeff DiBartolomeo as “two longtime ComiXology leaders” who had worked with him for the past 9 years and who would lead the team in the future. Currently, Ashley works as the company’s head of product, UX, and subscriptions, while DiBartolomeo is the chief technology officer of ComiXology.
2/ …I will continue to be an Advisor to @Comixology. Two longtime Comixology leaders, Tom Ashley and Jeff DiBartolomeo, will lead the team moving forward. Tom and Jeff have been with me for 9 years, and I can’t wait to see them bring their ideas to life for Comixology.
—David Steinberger (@stonemtn) March 10, 2022
“I have tremendous confidence in Jeff and Tom, the rest of the ComiXology management team, and the many passionate, comic book-loving employees who strive day in and day out to make everyone on the planet fans for life.” , added Steinberger. follow-up tweets. “To all the comixologists: I learned so much from you guys. Thank you.”
Steinberger also thanked the editors who have worked with ComiXology over the years as well as its original co-founders, John D. Roberts and Peter Jaffe. The trio founded the company in 2007 and oversaw its rise to the digital comics industry’s number one market and application. Roberts, responding to Steinberger’s post, wrote that the company was in good hands and shared a screenshot of an early-ever digital storefront that eventually evolved into today’s ComiXology.
ComiXology was purchased by Amazon in 2014, and at the time of purchase Steinberger said there was no better home for ComiXology than Amazon. The business remained largely a separate market until early 2022.
In February, the ComiXology storefront folded on Amazon.com to coincide with a revised version of the app that allowed integration with Amazon’s Kindle Marketplace. The integration has been criticized by fans as buggy and myopic, especially since ComiXology’s desktop reading options were removed in the transition, forcing users who read comics on their computers to use the app Amazon’s desktop Kindle, which was designed for prose books, not comics. . Other customers have complained about problems accessing their libraries, while users outside the United States have complained that they can no longer subscribe to any series.
Following the failed integration, ComiXology admitted that “the process was far from seamless” and promised to implement fixes in the near future.
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