iHeartMedia Unveils Post-Bankruptcy Board of Directors
By Variety Staff
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – iHeartMedia has announced the Board of Directors that will take effect when the company emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Board will include current chairman and CEO Bob Pittman as well as executives who have worked with Disney, MGM and Goldman Sachs, among others.
“We are excited about both the depth and range of our new Board members,” Pittman said. “We know our ability to draw on the experience of this unique combination of leaders in their respective fields will give us an unparalleled competitive advantage as we build our next level of growth.”
The company, which has been troubled by $20 billion in debt since a 2008 leveraged buyout, filed for Chapter 11 protection in March , reaching an agreement with the holders of more than $10 billion of its debt. iHeart, formerly known as Clear Channel, is the nation’s largest radio company, with more than 850 stations. It also owns iHeartRadio’s music streaming service, a large concert business, and a 90% stake in Clear Channel Outdoor, the billboard company. Clear Channel Outdoor did not file for bankruptcy .
Last week, the company reported that third quarter revenue was up $13.9 million over the same period in 2017 to $873.4 million, an increase of 1.6 percent, however its revenue for the first three quarters fell 1.2% year over year to $2.47 billion.
The new boardmembers follow:
- , Chairman of the Board of Directors: Pittman is the current CEO and Board Chairman of . He was formerly COO of AOL Time Warner, Inc. after serving as President and COO of America Online, Inc. Pittman also served as the CEO of MTV Networks and was the Cofounder and programmer who led the team that created MTV.
- Jay Rasulo, Lead Independent Director: Rasulo was formerly an executive at Walt Disney Company from 1986 through 2015, having spent his last five years at Disney as the CFO and Senior Executive Vice President. During his tenure at Walt Disney, among other roles, he served as the Chairman of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts.
- Gary Barber: Barber served as the Chairman and CEO of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. (MGM) from 2010 through March 2018. Prior to his role at MGM, he was the Cofounder of Spyglass Entertainment, which he founded in 1998.
- Rich Bressler: Bressler is the current President, COO and CFO of iHeartMedia. Before joining iHeart, he was a Managing Director at THL. Prior to joining THL, Bressler’s experience included serving as Senior Executive Vice President and CFO of Viacom, Inc., as Chairman and CEO of Time Warner Digital Media, and as Executive Vice President and CFO of Time Warner Inc.
- Brad Gerstner: Gerstner is the Founder and CEO of Altimeter Capital, an internet, software, and travel focused investment firm founded in 2008. Prior to launching Altimeter he was the Cofounder of three internet search start-ups.
- Sean Mahoney: Mahoney is a private investor who currently serves as a director at two public companies, Aptiv plc and Arconic Inc., and at post-bankruptcy Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. His prior board service includes Delphi Automotive plc and Formula One Holdings. Mahoney was a partner at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he headed the Financial Sponsors Group, and Vice Chairman, Global Banking, at Deutsche Bank Securities.
- Kamakshi Sivaramakrishnan: Sivaramakrishnan is the founder and CEO of Drawbridge, a company focused on designing quantitative algorithms for numerous areas, including computational advertising. Prior to founding Drawbridge, Sivaramakrishnan was a Senior Research Scientist at AdMob which was acquired by Google in 2010.
