Wattpad Names Jeanne Lam President
As President, Jeanne Lam will lead Wattpad through a period of explosive growth following its acquisition by South Korea’s NAVER earlier this year, strengthening the company’s commitment to helping writers build a global audience and earn a living from their work
TORONTO - September 8, 2021 - Wattpad, the global multi-platform entertainment company for original stories and leading social storytelling platform, has elevated Jeanne Lam to President. As President, Lam will lead the company through a period of continued global growth and innovation following its acquisition by NAVER and alignment with digital comics powerhouse WEBTOON earlier this year, reinforcing Wattpad’s commitment to supporting diverse writers around the world. Lam will report to Wattpad CEO & co-founder, Allen Lau.
Lam brings nearly 20 years of experience building high-growth and global technology companies in New York, San Francisco and Toronto. She steps into the role of President after holding a number of key positions at Wattpad: she joined the company in 2015 as Director of Growth, before being elevated to General Manager in 2017, and then Chief Business Officer in 2020.
Prior to Wattpad, Jeanne led growth and user acquisition at Shapeways, the world’s largest 3D printing service. She has also worked at Yahoo as Director of Platform Strategy, and mobile payments company, GoPago, as Head of Marketing & Business Intelligence. Jeanne holds an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and a B.S. in Policy Analysis and Management from Cornell University. She is a board advisor for Women and Color, founding member of the Coalition of Innovation Leaders Against Racism (CILAR), the President of the board of the Cornell Club of Toronto and a member of the board for the Harvard Business School Club of Toronto and the Canadian Club of Toronto.
“Jeanne has led Wattpad through some of our most important points of our evolution,” said Allen Lau, CEO and co-founder of Wattpad. “Her leadership and innovative thinking have been critical to Wattpad’s success, from launching Wattpad’s first-ever subscription tier — Wattpad Premium — to the Wattpad Paid Stories creator monetization program, to overseeing our growth to a community of 94 million people worldwide. Today, in a new period of growth, Jeanne’s skills and experience are the perfect mix to lead Wattpad through the next phase of our evolution.”
Wattpad’s creator-first approach to nurturing and supporting reading and writing communities has transformed how people discover and connect over stories. As President of Wattpad, Lam will continue to innovate new ways to support and reward the more than 94 million readers and writers who have found a community on the platform.
“The future of storytelling is taking shape in the diverse literary communities and writers on Wattpad,” said Jeanne Lam, President at Wattpad. “We are committed to nurturing these communities, expanding fandoms to new users and supporting the millions of writers who are building careers on our platform. I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to take Wattpad to the next level.”
In January 2021, Wattpad announced that it would be acquired by NAVER, South Korea’s internet conglomerate and home of WEBTOON™, a leading global digital comics platform, in a cash and stock transaction estimated to be more than USD $600 million. Together with WEBTOON, Wattpad’s innovations are ushering in a new era of storytelling technology. Since joining the NAVER family of world-class brands, Wattpad has focused on continued growth and innovations, expanding its teams and developing new initiatives to reward writers on the platform. In light of the acquisition Wattpad announced plans to add nearly 100 new roles in 2021 across engineering, marketing, content and other parts of the company.
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ABOUT WATTPAD
Wattpad’s vision is to entertain and connect the world through stories. A leading social storytelling platform and home to a community of more than 94 million people who spend over 23 billion minutes a month engaged in original stories, Wattpad has democratized storytelling for a new generation of diverse Gen Z writers and their fans. Alongside Wattpad WEBTOON Studios, the company’s TV, film, and publishing counterparts, Wattpad combines art and science to unearth incredible stories and cultivate the fandoms driving the future of entertainment. The company is proudly based in Toronto, Canada. Learn more at company.wattpad.com, or explore current openings to Work at Wattpad.