Zynga and Groupon: More Social Media Management Departures (GRPN, ZNGA)

These struggling social media players are looking more and more silly by the day. Over the weekend came news that Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) was losing its cloud technology expert, Allan Leinwand, as he is leaving to go join a firm called ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE: NOW) according to AllThingsD. News is out from Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) that effective immediately Brian Stevens will assume the role of chief accounting officer.

Groupon noted:

Stevens will report to Jason Child, Chief Financial Officer. Joe Del Preto will continue to operate in his role as VP and Global Controller, reporting to Stevens. Stevens has extensive accounting experience. Prior to joining Groupon, Mr. Stevens spent 16 years with KPMG LLP, most recently as an audit partner from October 2007 through August 2012.

Stevens has a B.S. in Accountancy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business. Maybe this instance is just a partial departure.

No one seems to care about the Groupon news very much, at least so far, about the Groupon departure as this may be only considered a partial departure. Groupon shares opened at $4.28 after closing at $4.26 on Friday. The shares are currently at $4.29 on the day. Its post-IPO range has been $4.00 to $31.14.

Zynga shares are down 2% at $2.82 so far this Monday, and the post-IPO trading range has been $2.66 to $15.91.

JON C. OGG