The Beatles have announced this week that the new CEO of their company, Apple Corps Ltd., will be Tom Greene. He replaces Jeff Jones, who ran the company for almost 18 years and decided to step away from the job last year.

In a group statement, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Olivia Harrison and Sean Ono Lennon joined together to say: “We are thrilled to welcome Tom Greene as CEO. We have a lot of exciting plans and Tom’s experience and vision make him the perfect person to join us in making it all happen.”

Variety reports that while Greene (pictured above) has no music business experience, he comes to the role with a strong entertainment background having been Chief Operating Officer of BLAST “a competitive entertainment company working with the biggest video game developers and publishers in the world on the production, commercialization and audience growth of their e-sports programs”.

Prior to that Greene was at Wizarding World Digital and Pottermore, the official hubs and parent companies of the Harry Potter franchise – with “over 50 million members, supported by immersive digital experiences, daily content publishing and an innovative e-commerce offering.” Greene was Group Commercial Director for Pottermore from 2015 through 2018, then moved to Wizarding World Digital, where he acted as COO, then General Manager.

In taking on his new role, Greene will still maintain his position on the board of directors for both BLAST and Pottermore.

Greene, who won’t start until September, said “It is a huge honor to lead Apple Corps into this new phase of its history. Like so many people around the world, I grew up in a household obsessed with the Beatles and their music. At a time when the world might need more of the Beatles’ spirit, there are so many new and innovative ways to bring their unique magic to all generations of fans. I cannot wait to get started.”

It’s going to be very interesting to see where the company goes in the future. With his e-commerce background will this mean that physical product from The Beatles is set to take a back seat? Hope not.