Through his long and accomplished career in the entertainment, media and sports industries, Rich Battista has distinguished himself as a proven Chief Executive Officer and Board Member with significant experience and success operating, building, and revitalizing large-scale multiplatform companies, often within the nexus of media, content and technology. As 4CEO, Rich transformed and sold two multi-billion dollar publicly traded companies in Time Inc. and Gemstar-TV Guide. He also conceived of, built, and operated several highly valuable cable network businesses during his 18-year career within various Fox entertainment and sports divisions.
Currently, Rich is a board member, consultant and investor with companies in the convergence of media, content and technology and is also producing for film and television. He serves as Executive Chairman of Adweek, the preeminent industry source of news and insights serving the brand marketing and advertising ecosystem. He also serves as Executive Chairman of Wave Sports + Entertainment, a sports content and digital media company targeting the Gen Z audience. Previously, he was CEO of Imagine Entertainment, a leading content and production company. Prior to that, Rich served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Time Inc., the largest publishing company in the world, before overseeing the $2.8 billion sale of the company to Meredith Corp. in 2018. Time Inc. spun out of Time Warner into a separate publicly traded company in 2014, with a portfolio of over 20 brands including PEOPLE, Sports Illustrated, TIME, Fortune, Entertainment Weekly and Essence and investments in such companies as Stadium and XUMO. During his tenure, Rich oversaw the transformation of the company from a mostly print business into a leading multi-media enterprise and a top ten digital property in the U.S. with over 140 million monthly unique users, over 280 million social followers and a premier live events business. Under his leadership, the company also diversified and launched fast-growing businesses in television production, OTT and e-commerce. He originally joined Time Inc. in April 2015 as President of PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly.
Prior to joining Time Inc., Rich served as CEO of the sports content and media company, Mandalay Sports Media, and CEO of LodgeNet (now Sonifi), a leading provider of media and technology services to the hospitality industry.
During a period of more than 18 years, Rich held a variety of senior management roles at the Fox/News Corp organization, where he was integral in conceiving of, building and operating its significant portfolio of leading cable networks. He ultimately served as President of Fox's National Cable Networks, running the multi-billion-dollar portfolio of entertainment and sports networks, including FX, National Geographic Channel, Speed Channel, Fuel, Fox Deportes and Fox Soccer Channel. His prior roles included Executive Vice President, Business Development and Strategy for Fox Entertainment Group and Executive Vice President, Fox Sports International.
From 2004-2008, Rich served as CEO of the publicly traded company Gemstar-TV Guide International (partially owned by News Corp). During that time, he revitalized TV Guide magazine, TV Guide Network, TV Guide Online and other businesses, turning the company around through impressive revenue and EBITDA growth and successfully directing its $2.3 billion sale.
Rich currently serves on the Board of Directors of several for-profit companies: Adweek; MLB Players, Inc., the for-profit corporate subsidiary of the Major League Baseball Players Association; Wave Sports + Entertainment; RB Media, the world’s largest audiobook publisher; and The Teaching Company, owner of the video learning brand, Wondrium. He also serves as an Advisor to MutualMarkets, an AI powered co-marketing platform company. In the non-profit sector, Rich is a founding Board member and current Co-Chair of City Year Los Angeles, a leading education non-profit. Rich is a Founding Advisor to NxtWork, a female-led collective providing solutions to diversifying C-Suites and Boardrooms. He also serves on the Entrepreneurial Pathways Advisory Committee for Women in Film, an advocacy organization for advancing the careers of women in the screen industries. Rich is the Founder and Chairman of the Georgetown Entertainment & Media Alliance (GEMA), an alumni network of more than 4,500 media and sports professionals.
Rich began his career as an investment banking financial analyst at Morgan Stanley. He earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University with cum laude honors andhas served on both the University’s Board of Regents and Board of Governors. In 2015, he was awarded Georgetown’s John Carroll Award, the University’s highest alumni honor.