The top technology officer at Disney, Aaron LaBerge, who has led much of the company's recent work on streaming, is departing from Disney.
LaBerge will leave his position at Disney in June due to personal reasons, according to CNBC's report on Monday, which cited an internal memo from Disney.
LaBerge is moving to a new role at Penn Entertainment, a major gambling company that runs ESPN Bet — Disney’s recently launched sports betting service.
Penn stated that in his new position as chief technology officer, LaBerge will lead a diverse team of technologists and be the primary business leader for the company’s interactive division. The announcement of his hiring was made by Penn..
During his more than two-decade tenure at Disney, which owns major media brands such as ABC and ESPN, LaBerge played a vital role in bringing Disney and Hulu together under one umbrella after Disney acquired Comcast’s share in the streaming service for over $8 billion last year.
LaBerge also played a key part in Disney's integration of advertising into its streaming services, as noted by CNBC.