People on the Move: ‘D&D’ Head Dan Ayoub Named President of Wizards of the Coast & Hasbro Digital Games

Hasbro, Inc. announced that Dungeons & Dragons Head Dan Ayoub has been named President of Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Digital Games, which will be effective on November 2, 2026.

The search for a new WotC President to replace John Hight, who stepped down in July 2026 (see “President Will Step Down“), is over. Hasbro has promoted Dan Ayoub to the top position.  Ayoub had been in charge of the D&D franchise for a little over a year  before being promoted to this new role (see “New ‘D&D’ Head“).

He’d been at Wizards of the Coast since 2022, and had an 11-year stint at Microsoft prior.  Ayoub is the first internal candidate to be promoted to the role of President of WotC.

“Dan has the passion and leadership caliber to take Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Digital Games into its next chapter,” said Chris Cocks, Chief Executive Officer of Hasbro.  “He understands what our games mean to the people who play them and what it takes to build great teams and experiences. His promotion reflects one of my top priorities: developing our people.”

Ayoub will be tasked with leading all things Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, Duel Masters, Exodus and Warlock for WotC.  He  is truly an old school gamer who is a lifelong fan of D&D and Magic: The Gathering (he learned to play Magic the year it was first launched in 1993).  He had the wisdom to bring Luke Gygax back into the D&D fold to develop new adventures and books for WotC (see “Gary Con XVIII News“), and he will likely have some ideas as to how to appease legacy Magic: The Gathering players in a Universes Beyond world. 

Source: ICV2