James Hurley, Ralph Lauren’s IRO of eight years, is joining the Italian gaming firm GTECH as senior vice president of IR.
A sociology graduate of Columbia University and an MBA alumnus of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, Hurley began his career in banking at JPMorgan, later moving on to sell-side research.
He spent five year at Bear Sterns and one year at Telsey Advisory, where he most recently served as a managing director and analyst covering the luxury goods sector. His experience also includes a spell in luxury hospitality, with a role as senior director of business development for W Hotels.
In his new role at the Milan-listed company, Hurley will report to CFO Alberto Fornaro. ‘GTECH’s financial communications strategy must take into account the highly regulated environment in which it operates and the diversity of business segments it covers, a scale that will be further enlarged with the upcoming acquisition of IGT,’ explains Fornaro in a company press release. ‘At Ralph Lauren, James established himself as a world-class communicator with a proven ability to navigate complex international business environments.’
Providence, Rhode Island-headquartered GTECH was previously listed in the US before being acquired by Italian firm Lottomatica, part of the De Agostini Group and the world’s largest lottery operator, in 2006. ‘I am confident James will lead us in adopting industry best practices for a NYSE-listed company and successfully design and implement GTECH’s strategic and tactical investor relations plans,’ adds Fornaro.
