Kurt Schneider, World Wrestling Entertainment's Executive Vice President of Marketing has given notice that he will be leaving the company to take a position working with the Harlem Globetrotters organization.
The word going around as to Schneider's departure is that he wasn't happy in his current position and was tired of micro management issues forced upon him by higher-ups (which in that company, means the McMahon family), so he decided to move on. I am told Schneider informed WWE about two weeks ago.
Schneider had been with the company since February 2003 and was responsible for overseeing the marketing for all of WWE's PPV events, live events, global marketing and strategic business operations. Scheider also oversaw all of the company's advertising, promotions, Public Relations, Corporate Communications and other associated responsibilities.
Many of the marketing techniques and themes you've seen from WWE in recent years have had Schneider's fingerprints all over them and he was very valuable asset to WWE. Schneider was very hands on with many of the upgrades in WWE's different revenue streams including WWE.com, the revamping of WWE Magazine, and the majority of PPV and Television events, including special themed shows like the Raw Family Reunion, the WWE Homecoming, Saturday Night's Main Event, WWE vs. ECW, etc.
In 2004, Schneider's Wrestlemania XX advertising theme (building the entire year around marketing the company's flagship event) helped lead WWE to its first major PPV revenue increase overall in several years.
I haven't heard when Schneider will officially finish with the company. There were a lot of employees unhappy about his decision to leave. Schneider was considered one of the best department heads to work under and his division was said to have had the best morale of any part of WWE's office end. Obviously, his departure is going to be a major loss to the company.