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Humam Sakhnini is all set to replace Jason Citron as the CEO of Discord, after the latter recently stepped down. Citron, who's also the company's co-founder, served as its Chief Executive Officer for 13 years.
Sakhnini is a seasoned gaming executive as well as the former Vice Chairman of Activision Blizzard, the company behind the popular video game series, Call of Duty and World of Warcraft.
The news of Humam replacing Jason as the CEO of Discord was shared by the latter via X on April 23, 2025.
“Today, I’m excited to share that Humam Sakhnini will be joining @discord as our new CEO… I’ll be transitioning to a new role as Board Member and Advisor, and continuing to support Discord through this next chapter,” Citron wrote in the post that amassed 454.6K views.
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The exiting CEO of Discord added that building the platform has been “one of the most meaningful and rewarding experiences of my life.”
“What started as a simple idea—to help friends talk while playing games—has grown into something far bigger than I ever imagined. I'm incredibly proud of what we’ve built together—and even more excited for what’s ahead,” Citron concluded.
In a memo sent to Discord employees, Jason Citron noted that it’s time to “literally ‘hire myself out of a job’” and the company has a “clear strategy, new business lines to grow into, love and passion from our users, and an incredible team,” which makes it the right time for this transition.
According to BBN Times, Humam Sakhnini is set to join Discord as its CEO on April 28, 2025. He will also serve on the Board of Directors. He shared in a public statement that he was "incredibly excited" to join the company at such a "pivotal moment," as per PR News Wire reports.
All you need to know about Humam Sakhnini
According to IMDb, Humam Sakhnini is a Canadian-American businessman who is not only the ex-Vice Chairman of Activision Blizzard but also its former Chief Strategy and Talent Officer. In the role, he oversaw M&A, strategy, and people’s operations.
In 2016, Sakhnini led the successful acquisition of game developer King Digital for $5.9 billion. Within a year, King earned a profit of $1.3 million as opposed to the previous $600 million, under the leadership of Humam’s microtransaction and global expansion-based strategies.
Since then, he served as King’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer until 2019. He became King’s President in January of the same year and took charge of the operational management of gaming franchises, including Candy Crush Saga, Pet Rescue Saga, Farm Heroes Saga, and more.
Before joining Activision Blizzard, Humam Sakhnini worked as a partner for 8 years in the New York-based firm, McKinsey & Company. During his time here, he collaborated with several Fortune 100 companies and helped them with their growth and acquisition strategies in media and entertainment.
The new CEO of Discord has also worked at organizations such as ISGroup, Nesbitt Burns, and the Canadian Department of Finance, and has over 15 years of experience in the gaming and tech sectors.
Humam Sakhnini holds multiple degrees, including a BA in Economics from the University of Western Ontario, an MA in Economics from Queen’s University in Kingston, Jamaica, and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.
More about the transition in Discord leadership
Instant messaging and VoIP social platform for gamers, Discord, was founded by Jason Citron and Stanislav Vishnevskiy in 2012 as a gaming studio, Hammer & Chisel.
In 2015, it was renamed and turned into a communication platform with text, voice, video, and media sharing features for online multiplayer gamers. Ever since its launch, Vishnevskiy has served as the company’s Chief Technology Officer.
In the wake of his appointment in the new role, Sakhnini shared a statement with the media, Times Now, and BBN Times reported. He called Discord a "massive, foundational part of the gaming ecosystem."
“What Jason and Discord co-founder and CTO Stan Vishnevskiy have built is truly remarkable — a platform with an undeniable product-market fit where hundreds of millions of people connect around their passion for gaming and shared interests," Humam Sakhnini stated.
He continued, "I look forward to working with Stan and Discord's talented team to scale our business while staying true to the company's core mission and the special connection it has with player communities.”
Sakhnini further noted that the world has just begun to see the impact of gaming on entertainment and pop culture and Discord is “perfectly positioned” to play a key role in it.
Apart from Jason Citron, the Discord official website also announced Humam Sakhnini as their new incoming CEO. This news comes as the company is reportedly preparing for an IPO (initial public offering), though it hasn’t been officially confirmed yet.
According to PitchBook, Discord has 200 million monthly active users from across the world and is currently valued at $14.7 billion.
