Changes at Line 6: New CEO, Executive Leadership

Renewal is in the air at Line 6, the prolific manufacturer of performance and studio gear that includes the POD series of guitar effects, the StageScape M20d, and James Tyler Variax guitars.

Paul Foeckler has moved up to the title of President & CEO, Line 6.

Last week, the company announced a number of significant changes to its executive leadership, starting at the top: Paul Foeckler has been promoted to President and CEO, Line 6 co-founder Marcus Ryle has assumed the role of Chief Strategy Officer and Joe Bentivegna has been named Chief Operating Officer.

Foeckler is succeeding Mike Muench, who recently resigned after 14 years as President and CEO. During his tenure, Muench was instrumental in transforming Line 6 from a small start-up into a large scale provider of hardware and software to musicians, producers, engineers and studios.

Paul Foeckler had been previously heading up the Line 6 product and marketing teams, a post he held for one year. Before Line 6, he held executive roles in product development, sales and marketing at Digidesign, M-Audio and Avid, where he led expansion into new markets.

Prior to his new post as CSO, Ryle served as Senior Vice President, New Business Development for Line 6, where he was responsible for the products and technologies in emerging markets, including digital wireless microphones and mobile products. Preceeding Line 6, Ryle co-founded Fast Forward Designs in 1985, which went on to become Line 6 in 1996. Ryle was at Oberheim Electronics from 1980 to 1985, where he worked as a senior designer developing many of the company’s synthesizers. All told, his technology and product development efforts have resulted in the co-invention of 17 US patents.

Before being named COO, Joe Bentivegna was Line 6’s Senior Vice President of engineering, operations, and services. In that position, he was responsible for building the teams that manage Line 6’s supply chain, provide customer service and deliver a wide range of products. Prior to Line 6, Bentivenga was Executive Vice President of Operations and Services for Equallogic, a company in the high-capacity storage space that was subsequently acquired by Dell Computer. He also held several positions during his 16-year tenure at Avid Technology, including Chief Operating Officer for the Video division, President and General Manager of Avid Technology Asia, Vice President of Worldwide Operations and Vice President of European Operations and Services.

According to Line 6, the executive leadership changes are “designed to enhance the company’s focus on live sound and new markets.”

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