Take-Two's finance boss resigns

Take Two needs another success like Grand Theft Auto

The chief financial officer at Take-Two Interactive Software, the firm behind computer game Grand Theft Auto, has announced his resignation.

The departure of Karl Winters had been expected after a recent shareholder revolt removed several board members.

Shareholders were unhappy at poor results, accounting problems and controversy surrounding its most popular computer game.

Take-Two also confirmed last week it faced a stock options probe.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether Take-Two failed to correctly disclose a number of backdated stock options.

Backdating is a means by which stock options can be made more profitable.

It is legal, but a company has to fully inform shareholders of the practice and ensure it is properly accounted for.

Take-Two's current senior vice-president of finance, Lainie Goldstein, has become CFO until a permanent replacement is found for Mr Winters.

"Karl oversaw finance at Take-Two during challenging times for the company," said the firm's chief executive, Ben Feder.

"I look forward to working closely with Lainie as we continue to address Take-Two's challenges aggressively and swiftly so that employees can focus on building the company's bright future."

Analysts had been expecting Mr Winters' departure since the boardroom coup that claimed the jobs of five senior executives, including the chief executive.

Grand Theft Auto has been highly successful but Take-Two needs to find another similarly strong product to improve its outlook, analysts say.

Despite the game's success, it has been criticised for disguised sexual content.