Humam Sakhnini

Sakhnini spent a part of his teenage years in Lebanon during the Lebanese Civil War.^[5]

He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in economics from the University of Western Ontario in Canada before receiving a Master of Arts (MA) in economics from Queen's University at Kingston in 1992. He earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the Yale School of Management in 2001.^[6][7][8][9]

Sakhnini initially worked for the investment bank Nesbitt Burns and for the Department of Finance Canada.^[7][6] He participated in the 28th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Economics Association in Calgary in June 1994,^[10] and authored three of Department of Finance's Fiscal Policy and Economic Analysis Branch working papers in 1995.^[10][11][12] In one of these papers, written jointly with Steven James and Chris Matier, he argued in favor of pre-funded pension plans for the baby boomer generation as a source of investment and economic growth, siding with the World Bank in the debate over the future of the Canada Pension Plan.^[13]

He later founded and co-directed the financial technology firm ISGroup, which provided services to mutual funds and hedge funds.^[6]

In the 2000s, he spent eight years as a partner (or associate principal^[14]) at McKinsey & Company advising media and technology executives.^[15][8]

He joined Activision Blizzard in July 2009 as executive vice president for corporate strategy and business development, and in February 2012 became the company's chief strategy and talent officer.^[6][16] He later served as a vice chairman at Activision Blizzard, overseeing a portfolio that included franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush.^[3]

Sakhnini joined the London-based King in April 2016 as chief financial officer and chief strategy officer after leading its acquisition by Activision Blizzard.^[17] In January 2019, he was appointed president of the company, overseeing operational management of King's mobile game portfolio including Candy Crush Saga.^[18] In February 2022, King announced that Tjodolf Sommestad would succeed Sakhnini as president^[4] and Sakhnini would return to the United States.^[19] Sakhnini subsequently helped Bobby Kotick oversee Activision Blizzard at the time of its acquisition by Microsoft and left the company not long after the process was completed in October 2023.^[20]

On 23 April 2025, Discord announced that Sakhnini would become chief executive officer as co-founder Jason Citron transitioned to a board role and CEO advisor. The company stated that the leadership change would help it scale and prepare for future opportunities.^[2] Discord said the transition would take effect on 28 April 2025.^[21] Technology outlets including Bloomberg News and TechCrunch reported the appointment, noting Sakhnini's prior roles at Activision Blizzard and King.^[3][22] Citron simultaneously published a message to employees about “passing the torch.”^[23] On 22 September 2025, Sakhnini was sent a letter from the United States House Committee on Homeland Security asking him to provide a written testimony for a hearing to examine "the radicalization of online forum users" following the assassination of Charlie Kirk.^[24][25][26]