Ross Levinsohn is a former journalist turned media executive. He worked for the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, and USA Today, most recently as Yahoo’s interim CEO.
He also has a broad background in media and digital advertising, with experience at HuffPost Live, ESPN.com, and other companies in the business. He graduated from Stanford University with an MBA in marketing and held a bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Duke University.
Levinsohn is currently serving as the head of investment banking for JPMorgan Chase.
His Achievements
He helped facilitate a deal in which the company was acquired by Verizon and secured $9 billion worth of contracts for shareholders.
Additionally, during his tenure, he launched a search venture with Microsoft which involved providing search services through Bing.
During this time, he also worked on several digital media projects within Yahoo, including uploading all of the content on Yahoo’s platforms and industry partnerships to reach larger audiences.
Previously he helped secure potential agreements that would have been valued up to 3.7 billion dollars with AOL and Verizon. As sports Illustrated CEO, Mr. Levinsohn directed a multi-year digital media, content, and product partnership with ESPN and ABC Sports to provide real-time sports highlights to Yahoo, Inc. properties in Yahoo Sports and Slate magazines.
Additionally, he helped broker a deal that would have given Verizon control of Yahoo’s core operations under the direction of Mr. Levinsohn. At the same time as Verizon swooped into Yahoo, Mr. Levinsohn was acting as CEO for the Capital New York publication, which included both print and digital news reports for New York City’s markets, government officials, and businesses to give critical coverage about local events and policy issues of interest to its readership base. Sports Illustrated CEO Levinsohn worked to help secure media partnerships with AOL and Verizon.
In addition, while at the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Levinsohn helped secure more than $6 billion worth of deals for the company. It included attracting several large global corporations, including Fox News and a large Asian pharmaceutical company, as clients resulting in the new revenue and ad growth for the entire company.
Additionally, he helped the company bring in several new contracts valued at up to $1 billion.