Fri, Sep 14, 2012 | 16:26 BST

Former Funcom CEO Trond Aas under investigation for possible insider trading

Former Funcom CEO Trond Aas is being investigated by Norwegian authorities for possible insider trading.

The CEO of The Secret World developer left his position as CEO the day before the MMO launched, according to The Escapist via >NewsWeb.no.

On July 2, Aas steeped down from his CEO position to become a “strategic advisor” and chief strategy officer, a move which allowed him to sell his 1.5 million shares of Funcom stock, 650,000 of which he ended up offloading.

Stock in the firm was worth $17.60 when Aas stepped down. Yesterday, it was worth $2.17 a share.

A week after Aas stepped down as CEO, the firm’s creative director Ragnar Tørnquist said the move wouldn’t impact The Secret World at all, as “Aas wanted to stay on as CEO until the game had launched, and he did so.”

“His departure has absolutely nothing to do with,” the release or perceived success of the game, said Tørnquist at the time.

“Trond is staying with the company in a different role, so it’s not like anyone was fired or demoted. It has absolutely nothing to do with The Secret World, although Trond was an active participant in all discussions regarding the game before launch and played an instrumental role in ensuring that we shipped a great game on time.”