Imagine Communications has announced that its current CEO, Tom Cotney, will retire effective March 31, 2025, and current company president Steve Reynolds has been promoted to CEO effective immediately. The two executives will work closely to continue the company’s strong momentum and growth while also ensuring a seamless leadership transition, Imagine said.
Although stepping down from his position as CEO, Cotney will remain a key part of Imagine’s future trajectory as non-executive chairman of the board. In this role, he will support critical customer commitments, advise the leadership team and serve as a performance coach across all levels of the organization.
“I am excited to take on this new role as it allows me to end my career the way I started—basically as a salesman—doing work that is important to me and Imagine, rather than the grind of daily operations,” Cotney said. “Leading a company with such a storied legacy in the industry has been a privilege.”
Eddie Johnson, executive vice president of Imagine Communications and senior managing director of Gores Group, said: “Tom’s leadership has been transformative for Imagine. Under his visionary leadership, Imagine has successfully evolved from a hardware-focused organization into a premier software company, achieving steady performance and laying the foundation for continued growth.
“Moving forward, the company will be in excellent hands as Steve takes the reins. He brings extensive industry and company experience to this role and is highly respected both internally and across the global market. Under Steve’s leadership, we will remain focused on putting our customers first, delivering quality products on time and on budget, and continuing the successful path that Tom has put us on.”
Reynolds’ career spans 25 years of technology leadership in media technology, including previous executive positions at Comcast, OpenTV, ACTV and Intellocity USA. Reynolds holds more than 40 digital video-related patents and has been a business and technology leader across many facets of the video and advertising landscape, Imagine said. He has participated in numerous standards-making bodies in the cable and digital video industries and is a member of SMPTE and SCTE, and also serves as chairman of Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS).
“The formula that Tom guided us toward over the past six years has been working, and we intend to continue moving toward those same objectives,” Reynolds said. “What we’ve accomplished together has put Imagine in a strong position—debt-free, cash-flow positive and operating at an exceptional level of productivity and effectiveness. Our message to the industry is that this leadership change is not going to change the way we work, the level of service we provide, or our commitment to upholding the high standards that define Imagine.
