Seattle-based digital media powerhouse RealNetworks Inc.
on Friday announced the resignation of chief financial officer Brian Turner
because of undisclosed health issues.
The company, which is battling
hard to stave off the challenge from Microsoft’s
Windows Media 9 Series, said Turner will remain as CFO until June in order to ensure
a smooth transition.
RealNetworks general manager of finance Michael Eggers will assume the
CFO slot until a replacement is found, the company said.
Turner’s departure comes at a crucial time for RealNetworks, which has
moved to embrace the
open-source community with the tiered rollout of the Helix digital media
delivery platform.
At LinuxWorld in January, the company concluded the delivery of the Helix
code with the release of the Helix DNA Server. Before that, the source code
for the company’s media player and media producer were released along with
the code for the Helix DNA Client.
Despite those moves, RealNetworks has found it tough to compete with
Microsoft, the deep-pocketed cross-town rival which is busy finding
enterprise partners for its recently
launched WM9 Series.
Eggers joined RealNetworks in 1997 and was in charge of financial
reporting, accounting, budgeting, planning and tax functions. A graduate of
the University of Washington in Seattle, he also did a stint at KPMG.