Tara Atwood, director of investor relations at US hospitality group Hyatt Hotels, has announced she is leaving her role to take up a new opportunity.
In her three years at the hotels operator, Atwood has overseen a great deal of change – including the company’s inauguration into the S&P 400 and hosting its 2023 investor day in Mexico – and seen its share price hit record highs in 2023 and 2024.
She has previously told IR Magazine that the investor day was ‘a truly remarkable highlight and something our stakeholders still talk about to this day’.
Writing on LinkedIn, Atwood says she will be sharing details of her next role shortly. ‘A heartfelt thank you to Noah Hoppe [SVP of transactions at Hyatt] for believing in me and giving me the chance to be part of Hyatt’s transformation journey,’ she adds.
‘I’m also deeply grateful to [president and CEO] Mark Hoplamazian and [CFO] Joan Bottarini for offering me a seat at the table and the opportunity to contribute to shaping the ‘New Hyatt’ narrative and putting on [our] investor day – an experience that has been both rewarding and humbling.’
Meanwhile, Viant Technology has appointed Nicholas Zangler as its vice president of investor relations, in which role he serves as the Nasdaq-listed digital marketing company’s primary liaison with shareholders.
The Irvine, California-based company notes that Zangler has 15 years of experience in sell-side equity research and investor relations across the advertising technology, media, specialty retail and healthcare industries. He previously held a leadership role with Walgreens Boots Alliance’s investor relations team.
‘I’m excited to be joining Viant during this pivotal time of innovations,’ says Zangler. ‘I’m eager to strengthen our relationships with investors and demonstrate how Viant’s groundbreaking technologies, such as ViantAI, are paving the way for continued growth and market leadership.’
Elsewhere in California, entertainment company WEBTOON has brought in Soohwan Kim as its new vice president of investor relations.
The Los Angeles-based webcomic publisher says Kim brings 30 years of experience in various IR and fund management roles, most recently serving as vice president of IR at Ingram Mico, where he helped prepare the IT distributor for its upcoming IPO. He has also led IR functions at Matterport, NortonLifeLock and Versum Materials.
‘I am thrilled to join the WEBTOON team as we begin our journey as a public company,’ says Kim. ‘I am particularly excited about all the incredible new content that’s created every day on our platform. I’ve watched many of our top webcomics and webnovels turn into TV series and movies on major streaming platforms.’
Laurie Havelock
Laurie has been part of the IR Magazine team for more than a decade, starting out as a reporter and research editor before becoming editor in 2023. He was previously acting business editor at the i newspaper and deputy business editor at The Daily...
