Zynga Marketing Chief Jeff Karp Is the Latest to Exit

Jeff Karp, Zynga’s chief marketing and revenue officer, is resigning from the social games company.

Karp is the latest in a string of executives who have left the company in what is becoming a widespread restructuring.

Karp’s departure is perhaps the least surprising; sources said he had been contemplating leaving for the past several weeks. It was probably hard to stay on board after the departure of John Schappert, who recruited Karp to the position and ended up resigning as chief operating officer on Aug. 8.

In a statement, Zynga said:

Jeff Karp is leaving Zynga, and the groups in his organization have been realigned under appropriate existing divisions. Our marketing and revenue teams have always been industry leaders, and as we continue our transition toward mobile and multiplatform game creation and distribution, their continued execution will be key to our future success. We are grateful to Jeff for his contributions over the last year and wish him well in his future endeavors.

Zynga made the departure official in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. It said that Karp resigned from his position effective today.

According to a separation agreement, Karp will continue to be employed by Zynga in a non-officer capacity and will provide transition services to the company through Sept. 22. During that time, he will continue to get his salary and benefits. Zynga will also pay Karp severance equal to the equivalent of three months of his base salary and accelerate the vesting of 100,000 unvested Zynga shares.

The best explanation for the continued executive losses is the company’s stock price, which continues to trade near all-time lows. The company also failed to meet second-quarter expectations, which prompted several lawsuits.

Other employees who have left recently include Mike Verdu, the chief creative officer; Alan Patmore, Zynga’s general manager of CityVille; and Bill Mooney, who was the original general manager for FarmVille.

Zynga’s shares are down six cents today to trade at $2.82 a share, or slightly above its 52-week low of $2.66.

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