Kelly Sumner
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Kelly Sumner (born 29 April 1961) is a businessman. Sumner has run two NASDAQ listed companies, and has 40 years experience in hardware and software.
Career
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Kelly Sumner began work in the industry as a trainee electronics engineer at Commodore in 1979. He progressed up the corporate ladder becoming managing director of Commodore in the UK.[1]
From hardware he moved into entertainment software, joining US based Nintendo and Sega publisher Gametek as European MD before becoming CEO. Sumner merged Gametek into the fledgling publisher Take Two shortly thereafter.[2] As CEO he took the company to annual sales of $1 billion, investing in the creation of amongst others, Rockstar Games, launching products such as Grand Theft Auto and delivering a four-fold increase in the share price.[3][4]
After Take Two, Sumner became CEO of RedOctane fronting the commercial development of Guitar Hero, the video game that went on to become a $1 billion franchise.[5] He sold RedOctane to Activision in 2006 for $160 million.[6]
More recently Sumner has been investing in early stage tech companies. During this period he has been chairman of Intent Media, which was sold to Newbay Capital;[7] and Mediatonic (Fall Guys) which was sold to Synova Capital,[8] and a board director of the cloud CRM company, TPoint, which was sold to New York-based private equity company Aquiline Capital Partners.[9]
He is currently a director of ArBa Developments, and chairman and investor at Reactional Music.
Reactional is a rules-based music engine and delivery platform that connects the music and games industries commercially and creatively, allowing any music to be brought into a game and the entire game’s visuals, music and sound to react live to that music, something that has not been possible before.
Reactional’s music platform introduces new possibilities for music experiences, in-game purchases, music creation, and prototyping for game developers. It expands music choices while making the platform easier and more intuitive to use.
Sumner is also a former vice president of Chelsea Football Club. He resides in Weybridge, Surrey with his wife, Kirsteen.
Appeared as a contestant on the videogame show GamesMaster (Series 2 Episode 12). Winning the Golden Joystick by completing his challenge on The Humans on the Amiga.
References
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- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Gareth Knight. "Commodore Photo Album". bambi-amiga.co.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."GameTek Assets Sold to Take 2". GameSpot. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."RedOctane appoints Kelly Sumner as new CEO". GamesIndustry.biz. 17 February 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."TTWO Stock Price | Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. Stock Quote (U.S.: Nasdaq)". marketwatch.com. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Planet Digital Partners Brings Gaming Industry Heavyweights Together". Bitsonline. 26 January 2019. Archived from the original on 30 June 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Activision Set to Acquire Video Game Publisher RedOctane and Its Highly Popular Guitar Hero Franchise". Activision Blizzard, Inc. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."NewBay Media acquires Intent Media". MCV/DEVELOP. 5 December 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."SYNOVA INVESTS IN MEDIATONIC | Synova Capital". Retrieved 19 June 2019.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Woven accelerates its disruptive journey with the acquisition of tPoint Solutions - Directors' Club Newswire". 12 November 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
External links
- http://ir.take2games.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=86428&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=358952&highlight= 22 November 2002
- Take-Two Veteran Leads RedOctane [1] 3 March 2006
- https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/could-this-technology-built-by-a-grammy-winning-producer-blow-up-musics-black-box-once-and-for-all/ 13 July 2021
- https://www.recordoftheday.com/on-the-move/news-press/sonickey-enables-all-music-in-the-world-to-be-identifiable-referenceable-and-trackable-with-100-accuracy 14 July 2021
- https://www.thecreativeindustries.co.uk/ones-to-watch-2021/sonicdata-limited 14 September 2021
- https://www.thecreativeindustries.co.uk/site-content/ones-to-watch-2021-celebrates-growth-and-export-minded-createch-businesses 9 September 2021
- https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/23360/pdf/ 20 January 2021
- https://www.aim.org.uk/#/news/aim-partners-with-sonicdata-to-offer-members-free-digital-watermark-monitoring-technology 2 September 2021
- https://www.billboard.com/pro/ll-cool-j-hip-hop-platform-15m-anuel-aa-royalty-income-acquired/ 20 April 2023
- https://namepr.notion.site/Reactional-Music-Press-Clips-12-April-2023-1231a8abe70a49d081e3bb28099d06ad Press Releases - Reactional Music
- https://theretrohour.com/what-really-killed-commodore-uk-md-kelly-sumner-tells-all-the-retro-hour-ep468/ The Retro Hour Podcast Episode 468
- https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bMaS2j99DN7Oczrviv06KMTq0RBCuNhA/view The Retro Hour Podcast Episode - with video
- https://www.ign.com/articles/how-sony-secured-gta-as-a-ps2-exclusive ‘They Complained, Then Left With the Best Exclusivity Deal of All Time’ – The Story of PS2’s Blockbuster GTA Deal - IGN
- https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/primary-wave-and-d2c-platform-game-my-fan-team-up-on-reactional-music-powered-album-games/ 24 November 2025
- https://www.musicweek.com/publishing/read/game-my-fan-teams-with-primary-wave-music-on-artist-personalised-games/093118 24 November 2025
