Rich Williams took over as CEO of Groupon in November 2015, after co-founder and current chairman Eric Lefkofsky stepped down from the chief executive role.
“A lot of people have told me that I’m taking over the reins of this company in a very dark time. Plenty have said that I’m nuts to take this on,” Williams wrote in a blog post last fall. “Without question, no one is handing us the keys to local with a big red bow tied around them. And while I’m shaking things up, I assure you that I’m not crazy. So I don’t look at this as a dark time. I look at this as a time to make things happen, faster.”
Williams became COO of the company in June 2016, just a few months before he was promoted to CEO. Before that, he served as president of Groupon North America and senior vice president of global marketing. He previously worked at Amazon.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California.
Find him on social: @grouponRich Williams
Website: groupon.com
Connected to: Eric Lefkofsky
More on Rich Williams
Grubhub, Groupon join forces on food delivery – July 31, 2017
Groupon gets $250 million investment from Comcast-backed Atairos – April 4, 2016
Groupon CEO Rich Williams tries to ease concerns in blog post – Nov. 19, 2015
Groupon replaces Lefkofsky as CEO; stock takes a dive – Nov. 3, 2015