Candy Crush Saga publisher hires new chief financial officer

The current king of social games is hiring a telecom veteran to come in and keep track of all its gold.

Developer King is hiring Hope Cochran as its chief financial officer. Cochran most recently served as CFO of Spring subsidiary Clearwire. She will guide the company’s finances, which include a considerable amount of revenue from mobile titles like Candy Crush Saga and the publisher’s King.com web portal.

King is currently one of the largest social-gaming publishers. It has the two highest-grossing apps on Android. It also has a strong presence on Facebook.

In June, King hired a few banks to help the company plot a course to go public. Cochran could oversee the next phase of the push toward an initial public offering.

“We’re thrilled that Hope is joining us,” King chief executive officer Riccardo Zacconi said in a statement. “She has an exceptional track record of helping to manage fast-growing and entrepreneurial companies and as King continues to grow, we know she’ll be a great addition to the team.”

Before taking the CFO job at Clearwire, Cochran held other senior financial roles within the communications company. She has never worked directly with games before.

“I am excited to be able to join King and the team at this point in its journey,” said Cochran. “King has had a long track record of success, and I look forward to embarking on this next phase with their proven and dynamic management team.”