About Us

Day-to-day
Nick is responsible for Rakuten Advertising’s day-to-day operations and provides strategic guidance to ensure the company is accelerating its speed of innovation and corporate growth. An experienced operator and corporate strategist, Nick is focused on leveraging proprietary data, advanced data science, and real-time technology to drive growth for brands and create new opportunities across Rakuten Group.

Career history
Before joining Rakuten, Nick was a consummate entrepreneur, founding companies in the mobile analytics and fintech industries, and consulting CPG and retail brands.

Notably, Nick was the Senior Vice President at The Nielsen Company (NLSN), where he led the launch of Nielsen’s mobile business outside of North America. Nick came to Nielsen by way of the firm’s 2007 acquisition of mobile analytics firm Telephia, where, as a founding team member, Nick was involved in the development and management of the company’s strategy, products, marketing and commercial efforts, and corporate development activities.
Prior to Telephia, Nick spent 8 years in consulting at Swander, Pace & Company and Braxton Associates, primarily working with consumer packaged goods manufacturer and retailer clients. Over the course of his consulting career, Nick developed broad engagement experience in new product development, competitive assessment and benchmarking, channel and sales force management, and mergers & acquisitions.

Alma mater
MIT, BS, Management with an Economics Minor

Favourite quote
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Of personal note
Nick was born and raised in Syracuse New York and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Management with an Economics minor from MIT. He is a first generation Greek-American and loves Syracuse University sports and traveling the world with his wife Alyson and two young daughters.

Day-to-day
As President of Rakuten Advertising and Chief Strategy Officer of Rakuten’s Global Ad Division, Tony leads the strategic direction and global expansion of the company’s media business. By unifying and amplifying Rakuten’s premium media inventory, Tony’s organisation allows brands, agencies and partners to reach Rakuten’s global audience of billions of engaged consumers.

Career history
Tony’s entrepreneurial spirit has always fueled his career. He started his first business, Precision DataLink in 1995, which was acquired in 2001. He then went on to found MediaForge, which was acquired by Rakuten Marketing in 2012.

Tony has also been a two-time finalist for Utah’s Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.

Alma mater
University of Utah

Favourite quote
“Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.” – Minor Myers Jr

Of personal note
Tony is a die-hard University of Utah football fan and has held season tickets for the past 15 years. Tony also enjoyed moderate fame as a lead guitarist of a touring band in the 80’s, including opening for pop sensation, Tiffany.

Day-to-day
Vincent leads Global operations for Rakuten Advertising, designing the company’s innovative roadmap to keep pace with the swiftly evolving industry. With a team of more than 250 specialists across the business, Vincent oversees Publisher Development, Ad Operations, Analytics, Business Operations, Product Management, Product Adoption and Corporate Strategy. Underscoring everything he does is a commitment to making things happen and creating new avenues for growth for both Rakuten Advertising and its clients.

Career history
An entrepreneur at heart, Vincent has nearly 20 years of experience scaling software businesses through product innovation. Vincent joined Rakuten Advertising as CEO and Founder of Nextperf, the AI-based retargeting business that Rakuten Advertising acquired in 2016. He oversaw the integration of the company’s programmatic assets, and laid the foundational platform its display business is built on today.

Prior to NextPerf, Vincent ran IT services and software companies, and invested in start-ups across the entertainment, marketing/advertising and retail sectors.

Education
MIT, Executive Certificate in Management and Leadership, AI, IoT, Strategy
Institute Superieur de Gestion, Master’s Degree, Business and Finance

Favourite quote
“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” – Steve Jobs

Of personal note
Father of three, Vincent has a huge passion for golf.

Day-to-day
Delight clients. Period.

Career history
More than 20 years in marketing, audience measurement and technology, supporting leading clients across all aspects of media, content consumption and technology. Most recently, led Local Media at Nielsen.

Education
University of Texas at Austin

Favourite quote
“Be influenced by nothing but your clients’ interests. Tell them the truth.” – Arthur Nielsen

Of personal note
Proud Dad and Husband. Native Texan, and proud of it, too.

Day-to-day
Chris is the General Counsel and Chief Corporate Officer for Rakuten Advertising, overseeing all legal, privacy, and security measures for the company, as well as corporate functions like brand marketing and corporate development. Building on a deep knowledge of corporate operations and the law, Chris creates business practical solutions that drive revenue, market share and innovation.

Career history
In addition to her role at Rakuten Advertising, Chris serves as the General Counsel, Chief Privacy Officer and Administrative Officer for Rakuten Intelligence. Prior to RI, Chris was a partner at OutsideGC, providing General Counsel services to start-up technology companies, and a venture partner with NextGen Venture Partners.

As Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer of Comscore, Chris was the architect of a privacy-by-design approach for data products, collection, processing — 10 years before regulators in the US and Europe recognised this method as a best practice. Chris is a member of the Association of Corporate Counsel and the International Association of Privacy Professionals, as well as the Virginia, New York, and Washington, DC bar associations.

Education
Georgetown University Law Center, Juris Doctor
Yale University, Bachelor’s Degree

Favourite quote
“A thrilling time is in your immediate future.” – Author: Unknown.  Source:  Fortune Cookie.

Of personal note
Chris enjoys friendly games of bocce and cornhole with her husband and 2 sons in the proximity of a sandy beach on the eastern shore.

Day-to-day
Laurie is responsible for all aspects of the Human Resources function, which includes leading a global team of Human Resource Business Partners. Laurie is passionate about coaching, employee engagement and implementing creative HR solutions, processes and programmes that are globally strategic, impactful and scalable. Her practical approach includes demystifying communication, identifying and leveraging individual/team strengths and building grassroots engagement that supports improving the overall employee experience.

Career history
Laurie is a global Human Resources leader with over 20 years of experience. Prior to joining Rakuten, Laurie held several Human Resource Business Partner leadership positions with increasing responsibilities in technology, banking, utilities and financial services.

As a lifelong learner, Laurie has attended executive education programmes at Cornell University, Stanford University and Dartmouth College. She is certified as a senior professional in Human Resources (SPHR, SHRM-SCM) and as an Executive Coach.

Laurie is also a founding member of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources (NAAAHR) and is an active board member of the Museum of Children’s Art in Oakland.

Education
Loyola University, Bachelor’s Degree, Business

Of personal note
When not guiding the growth and development of Rakuten Advertising employees, Laurie enjoys spending time with her family, travelling, doing yoga and hiking. She also mentors up-and-coming HR professionals by sharing her knowledge, experiences and passions.

Day-to-day
Ryugen is the head of Rakuten Advertising Japan and supervises every aspect of the business in this region. He strives to provide “the one and only” solution for our partners and drive performance across all online marketing channels.

Career history
Ryugen has 14 years of experience in digital performance marketing. He began his digital marketing career at TrafficGate, which was later acquired by Rakuten in 2010.

Of personal note
Ryugen spends his time off reading books. He is full of intellectual curiosity and is especially unmatched in his knowledge of Tokyo gourmet.

Day-to-day
Builds brands.
Builds partnership.
Builds trust.

Career history
Yuko has spent 20+ years in partnership development, account management, marketing, consumer communication.
Expertise in Asia, IMEA, and Greater Europe.

Alma mater
Sophia University
Universite de Paris
MA Philosophy, Art Criticism.

Favourite quote
“Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
(Aimer, ce n’est pas se regarder l’un l’autre, c’est regarder ensemble dans la meme direction.)

Of personal note
Proud mum of a pre-teenager. Yuko is a classical musician who is active with London-based amateur orchestras, and often gets a bit too enthusiastic when talking about Mahler and Sibelius, her favourite composers.

Day-to-day
Anthony is head of the Asia-Pacific and European region and is tasked with ensuring that the company’s clients are serviced at the highest possible level.

Career history
Anthony was general manager of Salmat Targeted Media, and has over 15 years of experience working alongside many of Australia’s major retailers. He is also an advisor to the Australian Business Arts Foundation.

Education
University of Western Sydney, Bachelor of Business, Marketing

Favourite quote 
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” – Mark Twain

Of personal note
Anthony is a die-hard football fan, often waking up at crazy times of the night to watch his beloved (and tragic) West Ham play in the English Premier League.