Streaming technology company Roku has hired Louise Pentland as its new senior vice president and general counsel, effective July 23. She will succeed Stephen Kay, who is retiring in November.
Pentland is joining Roku from The Walt Disney Company, where she has been executive vice president and chief counsel for Disney Experiences and Products. In that role, she has overseen all legal and regulatory matters for the unit’s various businesses, which include its global theme park destinations, cruise operations, global consumer products operations and e-commerce platform.
According to her LinkedIn profile, before joining Disney Pentland spent more than seven years at PayPal, six of which as executive vice president, chief business affairs and legal officer and most recently as executive vice president and senior adviser to the CEO. She previously spent more than 16 years at Nokia, most recently as executive vice president and chief legal officer.
Pentland is also a non-executive director at Experian, Hitachi and Pacific Life.
Kay is retiring after more than a decade at Roku. During that time he has been involved in key developments including the company’s IPO in 2017. He will work with Pentland on the transition. Before joining the company he was an attorney with Hogan Lovells, where he was managing partner of the law firm’s Los Angeles office. He was previously executive vice president and general counsel at Gemstar-TV Guide.
Anthony Wood, Roku founder and CEO, says in a statement: ‘We are delighted to welcome Louise to Roku’s executive team. Her extensive expertise in legal affairs, government relations and corporate governance will be invaluable as we advance our mission to transform how the world watches TV and connect and enhance the entire TV ecosystem. Meanwhile, we thank Steve for his many important contributions to the company’s success and wish him the very best as he prepares for his well-deserved retirement.’
Ben Maiden
Ben Maiden is the editor-at-large of Governance Intelligence, an IR Media publication, having joined the company in December 2016. He is based in New York. Ben was previously managing editor of Compliance Reporter, covering regulatory and compliance...
