Weight Watchers Names New President, North America And Chief Technology Officer

NEW YORK, Oct. 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Weight Watchers International, Inc. (NYSE: WTW) today announced two executive appointments.  Lesya Lysyj will serve as its President, North America, effective November 25, 2013.  Dan Crowe will serve as its Chief Technology Officer, effective November 5, 2013. Both appointees will report to President and CEO Jim Chambers and will serve as members of the Weight Watchers Executive Committee.

"I am thrilled to be furthering the momentum of our leadership team with the appointment of these accomplished, world class executives," said Jim Chambers, President and CEO. "Both Lesya and Dan will play crucial roles in helping us transform our business and advance our mission of helping more people lose more weight. Lesya brings to Weight Watchers tremendous experience in building and turning around well known consumer brands while Dan has a track record of leveraging technology to drive both growth and efficiency. I am confident Lesya and Dan will make immediate contributions to the performance of our business and their extensive leadership experience will further strengthen our organization."

Lysyj brings to Weight Watchers more than 25 years of successful experience in building and turning around well known consumer brands.  She is a highly engaging leader with a strong track record of building and leading teams in large, consumer facing organizations.  As President, North America she will be responsible for cross-functional leadership of our largest business unit, playing a critical role in our strategic transformation efforts and delivering on our mission of helping more people lose more weight.  She will also play a key role on our executive committee contributing to our future strategy. 

Lysyj joins us from Heineken USA where she was Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, responsible for all marketing activities on the Heineken USA beer portfolio, ensuring that the company effectively engages with its consumers at all touch points.  Prior to Heineken, Lysyj was with Kraft Food's Confectionery division in the U.S., where she led all aspects of marketing in four confectionery categories for brands including Trident, Halls and Toblerone. Prior to Kraft, Lysyj held senior leadership roles in marketing and brand management at Cadbury, PLC.

Lysyj received her B.A. degree from the University of Western Ontario and her M.B.A. from the University of Toronto.

Crowe brings to Weight Watchers more than 25 years of consulting, business and IT experience including broad technology and product management leadership roles. He has a unique combination of entrepreneurial and large company experience that will serve us well as we look to leverage technology to strengthen our consumer offering and increase the effectiveness of our business operations. As CTO, Crowe will be responsible for all technology across the organization, and play a key role on our executive committee contributing to our future strategy.

Crowe joins us from IBM Global Business Services where he was Global Relationship Partner responsible for a global team of over 1,000 professionals in the areas of strategy and transformation, customer innovation, and application innovation, including mobile, social, location-based and other digital platforms. Prior to joining IBM, Crowe was Chief Information Officer and Chief Product Officer at AutoTrader.com, helping to build the company from a start-up into a $1 billion digital media leader.  He was responsible for all online and mobile consumer experiences, product management and development, customer service platform, business intelligence, corporate systems, as well as R+D and innovation. Prior to AutoTrader.com, Dan held senior partner roles at leading IT consulting firms including Verity Partners, Deloitte Consulting and Accenture.

Crowe received his B.A. degree in Economics and his M.B.A. from the University of Georgia.

About Weight Watchers International, Inc. 
Weight Watchers International, Inc. is the world's leading provider of weight management services, operating globally through a network of Company-owned and franchise operations. Weight Watchers holds more than 40,000 meetings each week where members receive group support and learn about healthy eating patterns, behavior modification and physical activity. WeightWatchers.com provides innovative, subscription weight management products over the Internet and is the leading Internet-based provider of these products in the world. In addition, Weight Watchers offers a wide range of products, publications and programs for those interested in weight loss and weight control.

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions concerning future events. These statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such forward-looking statements because actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied. The reports filed by the Company pursuant to United States securities laws contain discussions of these risks and uncertainties. The Company assumes no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Readers are advised to review the Company's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (which are available from the SEC's EDGAR database at www.sec.gov, at various SEC reference facilities in the United States and via the Company's website at www.weightwatchersinternational.com).

SOURCE Weight Watchers International, Inc.