— Marie Donoghue, a vice president at Amazon who helped lead its sports streaming and video production arm, is leaving the company.
The former longtime ESPN executive joined Amazon in 2018. Donoghue is “one of the most powerful women in sports media,” according to Sportico.
Amazon bolstered its sports arm during Donoghue’s tenure, including a massive deal with the NFL to exclusively stream Thursday Night Football through 2033, as well as an array of other partnerships with teams and leagues.
Amazon streamed the first Black Friday game in NFL history in November.
The New York Post first reported Donoghue’s departure Thursday. We reached out to the company for confirmation.
— In related Amazon news, former Hulu and Disney exec Jeremy Helfand announced Thursday that he is joining Amazon to lead Prime Video Advertising.
Helfand landed at Hulu in 2018 as a vice president and later moved to an executive VP role overseeing Disney’s ad business.
He joins Amazon just as the tech giant rolls out ads within its Prime streaming service. “I’ll be working with a talented team of customer-obsessed business builders to create something special, starting with our upcoming launch!” he wrote on LinkedIn.
— Abhi Rathna, a longtime leader at Microsoft, is departing. Rathna joined the Redmond company in 2012 and was most recently a principal product manager for Microsoft’s AI-powered Copilot Studio.
“Microsoft is a place full of talented people, where one could build their lifetime career,” Rathna wrote on LinkedIn. “But I have come to appreciate the changes in life both personal as well as professional as pivots for growth, and where I will go next is also full of great people to learn from.”
— Longtime Seattle-area marketing exec Brian Goldfarb is leaving Tenable.
Goldfarb joined the Maryland-based cybersecurity company in 2021. He previously led marketing efforts at Amperity, Chef Software and Splunk.
“Though leaving is bittersweet, it’s the right moment for a new beginning,” Goldfarb wrote on LinkedIn. “I’m currently enjoying precious time with my 2.5-year-old, reenergizing for the exciting opportunities that await in January.”
— Seattle-area digital media veteran Virl Hill joined the advisory board of Los Angeles-based media production startup Roundtable Entertainment and AI video startup Adventr. Hill was most recently an executive at Microsoft and previously ran Blade Games World as CEO. He was also an exec at RealNetworks and Rhapsody, and helps produce the Seattle International Film Festival.
— Seattle analytics startup New Engen hired Andrew Richardson as senior vice president of advanced analytics and measurement. Richardson previously was an exec at Tinuiti and Delphic.
— The Oregon Entrepreneurs Network added All Raise CEO Paige Hendrix Buckner and Equilibrium Impact Ventures partner Kasem Rodriguez Mohsen to its board.
