Host & Moderators
Wolf Blitzer
AnchorCNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer
Wolf Blitzer
Anchor
CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer
Wolf Blitzer is anchor of CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, which airs weekdays at 6 p.m. ET and provides viewers with in-depth reports about the political, international, and breaking news stories of the day. Blitzer began his career in 1972 with the Reuters News Agency in Tel Aviv. Shortly thereafter, he became a Washington, D.C., correspondent for The Jerusalem Post and reported from the nation’s capital for more than 15 years. Blitzer has been with CNN for more than 30 years, having joined in 1990 as the network’s military-affairs correspondent at the Pentagon. He then served as CNN’s senior White House correspondent covering President Bill Clinton from the November 1992 election until 1999, when he became the anchor of CNN’s Sunday public affairs program Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer and remained for more than a decade.
Poppy Harlow
AnchorCNN This Morning
Poppy Harlow
Anchor
CNN This Morning
Poppy Harlow anchors CNN This Morning alongside Don Lemon and Kaitlan Collins weekdays from 6-9 a.m. ET. She is also the creator and host of CNN’s “BossFiles with Poppy Harlow” podcast, and previously anchored CNN Newsroom with Jim Sciutto.
Harlow imparts her extensive economic knowledge interviewing top business leaders and CEOs including Warren Buffett, Jamie Dimon, Sundar Pichai, and more. She has also interviewed Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and moderated two CNN Presidential Town Halls. She’s been nominated for multiple Emmy awards and has won a Gracie Award and SABEW’s Best in Business award, among others.
Before CNN, Harlow was an anchor for the Forbes Video Network and an anchor and reporter for NY1 News. Harlow graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia. She holds a master’s degree in studies of law from Yale and also studied at King’s College London.
Ernie Johnson
Host, Inside the NBAErnie Johnson
Host, Inside the NBA
Ernie Johnson is the iconic voice of Turner Sports, a six-time Sports Emmy Award winner and long-time host of TNT’s Inside the NBA studio show. With Johnson as host, Inside the NBA has won five Sports Emmy Awards for Outstanding Studio Show – Daily. In addition to his 33-plus years hosting Inside the NBA, Johnson hosts “March Madness” studio coverage (since 2011) and has been an integral part of MLB on TBS game and studio coverage since 2007. Johnson also became a New York Times best-selling author in 2017 with Unscripted: The Unpredictable Moments that Make Life Extraordinary.
John King
Anchor & Chief National Correspondent, CNNJohn King
Anchor & Chief National Correspondent, CNN
John King is CNN’s chief national correspondent and anchor of Inside Politics, an hour-long program featuring a panel of top-tier political correspondents that airs weekdays at noon ET.
An award-winning journalist, King has covered the past nine presidential elections and has reported from all 50 states and more than 70 countries.
King is pivotal to the network’s daily reporting and breaking news coverage and participates in major events such as CNN’s 2020 Election Night in America coverage. Past campaign experience includes moderating three presidential primary debates in 2012. This past election was the fourth cycle in which King’s reporting included use of CNN’s “Magic Wall,” which was introduced in 2008 and was also an integral part of the network’s Emmy award-winning 2012 election night coverage.
King joined CNN in May 1997 and became chief national correspondent in April 2005. He served as CNN’s senior White House correspondent from 1999 to 2005. Before joining CNN, King was an Associated Press correspondent for 12 years.
Ahmad Rashad
NBA Ambassador, Executive Producer, HostAhmad Rashad
NBA Ambassador, Executive Producer, Host
Emmy award-winning sportscaster Ahmad Rashad is the host of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony. A host and commentator for NBC for 20 years, Rashad covered four Olympics and won an Emmy for his work on the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. He was executive producer, managing editor and host of the Emmy-nominated show NBA Inside Stuff for 16 seasons.
Rashad currently serves as an NBA ambassador and consultant to the New York Knicks. He recently produced a five-part NBA special, Ahmad Inside, for ESPN.
An All-American at Oregon, Rashad was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2007. He is also a recipient of the Pioneer Award, the highest award given by the university.
Rashad played 10 NFL seasons, including seven in Minnesota, where he earned four Pro Bowl selections, All-Pro honors and Pro Bowl MVP. In 2017, he was enshrined in the Vikings’ “Ring of Honor.”
Stephanie Ruhle
Host, MSNBC’s The 11th HourNBC News Senior Business Analyst
Stephanie Ruhle
Host, MSNBC’s The 11th Hour
NBC News Senior Business Analyst
Stephanie Ruhle is the host of MSNBC’s The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle, which airs weeknights at 11 p.m. ET. Ruhle also appears across all NBC News and MSNBC platforms as NBC News’ senior business analyst, including NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, TODAY, NBCNews.com, and TODAY.com’s “On The Money” with Stephanie Ruhle.
Ruhle has interviewed titans in politics, business, entertainment and sports. As a Wall Street veteran, she is known for bringing her business acumen and hard-hitting style to high profile interviews, for her original reporting and for bringing humanity into her news coverage and her daily “Good News Ruhles” segment.
Ruhle joined NBC from Bloomberg, where she was managing editor and news anchor. Prior to becoming a journalist, she was a managing director at Deutsche Bank and worked at Credit Suisse, where she was the highest-producing credit derivatives salesperson in the U.S.
Andrew Ross Sorkin
Columnist, The New York TimesAnchor, CNBC
Andrew Ross Sorkin
Columnist, The New York Times
Anchor, CNBC
Andrew Ross Sorkin is an award-winning journalist for The New York Times and a co-anchor of CNBC’s Squawk Box. Sorkin is also the founder and editor at large of DealBook, a news site published by the Times with more than 1 million subscribers. He is also co-creator of Showtime’s drama series Billions.
He is the author of the best-selling book Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System and Themselves, which chronicled the events of the 2008 financial crisis. Sorkin co-produced an HBO adaptation of the book, which was nominated for 11 Emmy Awards. He has won numerous journalistic honors, including an EMMY for “Outstanding Live Interview,” two Gerald Loeb Awards, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He started writing for the Times in 1995, while still in high school.
Participants
Steve Ballmer
ChairmanLA Clippers
Steve Ballmer
Chairman
LA Clippers
Steve Ballmer is co-founder of Ballmer Group and owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. Ballmer retired as chief executive officer of Microsoft in 2014 after leading the company for nearly 14 years. He remains a significant investor.
Through philanthropy and civic activism, Ballmer Group strengthens promising and proven approaches that increase economic mobility for children and families in the U.S. Ballmer also leads USAFacts, a project seeking to improve transparency in government, including disclosing taxes and borrowings raised, money allocated and spent, and outcomes achieved, much as corporations do through their 10-K reports.
Ballmer became Microsoft’s CEO in 2000, having served for 20 years in roles as president, senior vice president of sales and support, senior vice president of systems software, and vice president of marketing. He was the company’s first business manager. During his tenure Microsoft grew to almost $80 billion in revenue and was the third most profitable company in the U.S.
Campbell Brown
Vice President, Global Media PartnershipsMeta
Campbell Brown
Vice President, Global Media Partnerships
Meta
Campbell Brown is vice president of global media partnerships at Meta. She leads a team responsible for the company’s relationships with entertainment, news, and sports partners, developing the future of their content across all Meta platforms.
Prior to Meta, Campbell hosted a prime-time political talk show on CNN and served as White House correspondent for NBC News. She also founded and serves on the board of the nonprofit news site The Seventy-Four, which covers K-12 education.
Campbell currently serves on the board of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Edward R. Murrow Center for a Digital World at Tufts, Paley Center for Media and the advisory board of Success Academy Charter Schools. She lives in New York City with her husband, two teenage sons and two dogs.
Mark Cuban
Entrepreneur, Founder, costplusdrugs.comMark Cuban
Entrepreneur, Founder, costplusdrugs.com
Mark Cuban has been a natural businessman since age 12, when he sold garbage bags door to door. He went on to found MicroSolutions right out of college and Broadcast.com, a streaming service that he and friend Todd Wagner sold for $5.6 billion.
Since his acquisition of the Dallas Mavericks in 2000, Cuban has transformed the franchise. The Mavs competed in their first NBA Finals in 2006, won their first League title in 2011, and they are currently listed as one of Forbes magazine’s most valuable franchises in sports.
Cuban first appeared as a “Shark” on the ABC show Shark Tank in 2011, becoming the first person to live Tweet a TV show. He has been a star on the hit show ever since and is an investor in an ever-growing portfolio of small businesses. In addition, he is a best-selling author, executive producer of films that have received seven Academy Award nominations, and founder of Sharesleuth, a research and investigation website to uncover fraud in financial markets.
Baron Davis
Former NBA All-StarEntrepreneur & Investor
Baron Davis
Former NBA All-Star
Entrepreneur & Investor
Baron Davis is a two-time NBA All-Star, serial entrepreneur, investor, and creator of thought-provoking content and digital platforms. He is the founder of several companies. Eentity combines creative talent with original publication and production to develop and provide educational and empowering stories that appeal to global audiences. Recently, he has been focused on MTU, a maker studio incubating Web3 projects with extraordinary talent and IP that empower underrepresented communities. MTU has created a metaverse environment with monetizable D2C features and functions necessary for a fully immersive, two-way marketplace. MTU is the connection between brands, talent and distribution as the Web3 destination for culture.
Marie Donoghue
Vice President, Global Sports VideoAmazon
Marie Donoghue
Vice President, Global Sports Video
Amazon
Marie Donoghue is vice president of global sports video at Amazon. In her role, she leads Amazon’s worldwide sports strategy, identifying and evaluating new opportunities, and enabling customers to access live and on-demand sports content, on hundreds of devices, in more than 240 countries and territories.
Prime members around the world can watch live sporting events such as Thursday Night Football, the Premier League, WNBA, US Open (tennis), UEFA Champions League, Ligue 1 and Roland-Garros, and can also subscribe to streaming services such as NBA League Pass, NBA TV, and MLB.TV, through Prime Video Channels.
Prior to joining Amazon, Donoghue was at ESPN for more than 18 years, where she most recently served as executive vice president, global business and content strategy, leading the ongoing development and implementation of ESPN’s enterprise-wide business and content strategy.
Pau Gasol
Six-Time NBA All-StarInvestor
President, Gasol Foundation
Pau Gasol
Six-Time NBA All-Star
Investor
President, Gasol Foundation
Pau Gasol is an advisor, investor and activist in projects related to sports and well-being. He played professional basketball for 20 years, in the NBA, on the Spanish National Team and in Spain’s ACB league. He won two NBA titles with the Lakers, three Olympic medals, and three European Championships, in two of which he was also named MVP, among other honors.
Pau Gasol and his brother Marc founded the Gasol Foundation in 2013. The Foundation’s mission is to reduce childhood obesity by promoting healthy habits. He is also a member of the International Olympic Committee’s Athletes’ Commission and a UNICEF Global Champion for Nutrition and Zero Childhood Obesity.
He has been recognized with many honors, including the Prince of Asturias Sports Prize (2006 and 2015), the Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Sports Merit in Spain (2021), and the NBA J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award (2012), among others.
Roham Gharegozlou
Chief Executive OfficerDapper Labs
Roham Gharegozlou
Chief Executive Officer
Dapper Labs
A leader in blockchain and distributed ledger technology, Roham Gharegozlou is the CEO of Dapper Labs, the Web3 company behind the Flow blockchain, Dapper Wallet, and some of the most successful NFT projects including NBA Top Shot, NFL Day, LaLiga Golazos and CryptoKitties. Gharegozlou is also the founder of Axiom Zen, the award-winning emerging technology venture studio.
Previously, Gharegozlou served with the Rising Tide Fund in Silicon Valley as a partner focused on seed-stage investments, and Newbury Ventures, a technology-focused venture fund that has supported a number of companies that are now part of global brands such as PayPal and Microsoft. He attended Stanford, where earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in biological science.
John Hanke
Chief Executive OfficerNiantic, Inc
John Hanke
Chief Executive Officer
Niantic, Inc
As CEO, John Hanke leads Niantic in building planet-scale AR technology that powers the real-world metaverse. Niantic’s Lightship platform is the world’s first scaled AR platform, enabling developers around the world to create sophisticated AR experiences for phones and eventually AR glasses. Lightship is also the foundation for Niantic’s hit games, including Pokémon GO, Pikmin Bloom and Ingress. Hanke founded Niantic as a startup within Google to explore the creation of new kinds of entertainment at the intersection of digital and physical worlds. It was spun out as an independent company in 2015.
Earlier in his career, Hanke was a founder of Archetype Interactive, creators of one of the very first online massively multiplayer games, Meridian59. He went on to co-found Keyhole, a company dedicated to recreating a digital version of earth, which was acquired by Google for the technology that led to the creation of Google Earth.
Amy Howe
Chief Executive OfficerFanDuel
Amy Howe
Chief Executive Officer
FanDuel
Amy Howe serves as CEO of FanDuel Group, with responsibility for the strategic direction and performance of the company’s core commercial functions across its Sportsbook, Casino, Racing and Daily Fantasy units.
Howe joined FanDuel Group from Live Nation Entertainment where she held several positions of increasing authority, culminating with her stint as global chief operating officer of Ticketmaster, the largest division of Live Nation Entertainment. As COO of Ticketmaster, Howe led the digital transformation and modernization of the company’s ticketing platform, doubling its growth in gross ticketing value and growing the mobile app install base by 400%.
Prior to Live Nation Entertainment, Howe enjoyed a distinguished career as a Partner at McKinsey & Company in Los Angeles where she advised many Fortune 500 clients across a wide range of issues, including growth strategy, restructuring/turnaround, organizational transformation and commercial and operational excellence.
Will Hurd
Managing DirectorAllen & Company, LLC
Will Hurd
Managing Director
Allen & Company, LLC
Will Hurd is a managing director at Allen & Company and former member of Congress, cybersecurity executive, and undercover officer in the CIA. For almost two decades he has been involved in the most pressing national security issues, whether it was in the back-alleys of dangerous places, boardrooms of top international businesses or halls of the Capitol.
While in Congress, Texas Monthly and Politico Magazine called Hurd “The Future of the GOP” because he put good policy over politics. His three terms in the House of Representatives resulted in a number of legislative accomplishments, including a bipartisan resolution calling for a national artificial intelligence strategy.
Hurd, a native of San Antonio, earned a computer science degree from Texas A&M. He serves on the board of directors of Open AI, as a trustee of the German Marshall Fund, and on the advisory boards of Palantir and Chubb. He is the author of American Reboot: An Idealist’s Guide to Getting Big Things Done.
Robert A. Iger
Chief Executive OfficerThe Walt Disney Company
Robert A. Iger
Chief Executive Officer
The Walt Disney Company
Robert A. Iger returned to The Walt Disney Company as CEO on November 20, 2022. He previously served as CEO and chairman of The Walt Disney Company from 2005 to 2020, then executive chairman and chairman of the board through 2021.
During his 15 years leading Disney, Iger built on Disney’s rich history of unforgettable storytelling with the acquisitions of Pixar (2006), Marvel (2009), Lucasfilm (2012), and 21st Century Fox (2019), and the landmark opening of Disney’s first theme park and resort in mainland China, Shanghai Disney Resort; and the release of record-setting films including Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame, Disney’s Frozen, and the groundbreaking movie Marvel’s Black Panther. Always one to embrace new technology, Iger made Disney an industry leader through its creative content offerings across new platforms, including the highly successful launch of the Disney+ streaming service in 2019 and ESPN+ in 2018.
Nicolas Julia
Co-Founder & Chief Executive OfficerSorare
Nicolas Julia
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Sorare
Nicolas Julia is the co-founder and CEO of Sorare, the global sports entertainment company that puts team ownership in the hands of fans. A serial entrepreneur and avid sports fan, Julia was inspired to launch Sorare from his childhood experience of collecting football stickers, combined with his discovery of an innovation enabling digital ownership: non-fungible technology (NFT). Believing that sports fandom could be taken a step further, Julia and his co-founder Adrien Montfort set out to build an exciting fantasy game that could connect fans with their favorite players, teams and leagues through ownable, digital collectibles.
Sorare was born in 2018, and since then has evolved into one of Europe’s fastest growing startups, with more than 3 million users across 180 countries and 300 partnering sports teams, clubs and organizations. Julia, who earned his master’s degree in management from Emlyon Business School, lives in Paris with his wife and two children.
Ted Leonsis
Founder, Chairman, Principal Partner &Chief Executive Officer
Monumental Sports & Entertainment
Ted Leonsis
Founder, Chairman, Principal Partner &
Chief Executive Officer
Monumental Sports & Entertainment
Ted Leonsis is founder, chairman, principal partner and CEO of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns and operates the 2019 WNBA champion Washington Mystics, the NHL’s 2018 Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals, the NBA’s Washington Wizards, the NBA G League’s Capital City Go-Go and the 2019 and 2020 NBA2K League champion Wizards District Gaming. Leonsis is a co-owner of aXiomatic, which has controlling interest in global esports franchise Team Liquid. Monumental also owns the 20,000-seat Capital One Arena, which hosts the first in-arena sportsbook in the U.S.
Monumental recently acquired full ownership of NBC Sports Washington for exclusive local television rights to Capitals’ and Wizards’ games and runs Monumental Sports Network, a first-of-its-kind regional sports network for digital, mobile and over-the-top platforms. In addition, Leonsis is co-founder and a partner at Revolution Growth, a $1 billion set of investment funds.
Damian Lillard
Seven-Time NBA All-StarPhilanthropist; Entrepreneur; Recording Artist
Damian Lillard
Seven-Time NBA All-Star
Philanthropist; Entrepreneur; Recording Artist
Damian Lillard is in his seventh season as a guard for the Portland Trail Blazers. In 2017-18, he earned his first All-NBA First Team selection, and this season he earned his fourth NBA All-Star invitation. Lillard, the sixth player picked in the 2012 NBA Draft, won the 2012-13 NBA Rookie of the Year Award, becoming just the fourth unanimous recipient of that honor.
Lillard is the spokesman for the RESPECT program, which he started in 2013. The program aligns with the priorities of Portland-area schools and promotes respectful behavior by incentivizing youth to “Show Up, Work Hard and Be Kind.” As a Global Ambassador for Special Olympics, Lillard enjoys spending time with the athletes and empowering them to showcase their full potential despite their disabilities.
Lillard is the founder of Front Page music, which released both of his albums, “The Letter O” and “Confirmed.” He has successfully blended social platforms to elevate his music while involving an array of corporate partners—such as adidas, NBA2K, Spalding, State Farm and JBL—through creative campaigns.
CJ McCollum
NBA Player, New Orleans PelicansPresident, National Basketball Players Association
CJ McCollum
NBA Player, New Orleans Pelicans
President, National Basketball Players Association
CJ McCollum, guard for the New Orleans Pelicans, is a well-known professional basketball player, journalist, philanthropist, and businessman. A committed leader and champion of others, McCollum serves as president of the National Basketball Players Association.
McCollum’s offensive prowess paired with his contagious charisma has made him into a fan favorite around the NBA. Engaging as he is intelligent, McCollum can be found putting his journalism degree to work as the host of the top-rated basketball podcast, The CJ McCollum Show.
McCollum creates change wherever he goes. He inspires aspiring journalists through “CJ’s Press Pass,” a journalism-based mentorship program that provides one-of-a-kind opportunities for students looking to get involved in the media. Additionally, he works with local Boys & Girls Clubs in Portland and New Orleans to develop “CJ McCollum Dream Centers,” innovative learning rooms that provide a safe space for underserved youth to learn, explore, create, and grow.
Neal Mohan
Chief Product OfficerYouTube
Neal Mohan
Chief Product Officer
YouTube
Neal Mohan is chief product officer at YouTube. He is responsible for YouTube products, user experience, and trust and safety on all platforms and devices globally. This includes YouTube on mobile, desktop and TV devices, experiences such as YouTube Music, Kids, and VR, and YouTube’s two subscription services, YouTube Premium and YouTube TV. Products for media partners, content creators and musicians are also part of Mohan’s portfolio. In his role ensuring trust and safety across the YouTube ecosystem, he oversees the creation and enforcement of its content policies and community guidelines.
Previously, Mohan served as senior vice president of display and video ads at Google. In this role he was responsible for the company’s advertising offerings on YouTube, the Google Display Network, AdSense, AdMob, and the DoubleClick family of programmatic ad platform products. He focused on growing the overall digital media industry by building innovative solutions for millions of Google’s advertising and media partners around the world.
Chiney Ogwumike
Two-Time WNBA All-StarESPN Broadcaster; Investor
Chiney Ogwumike
Two-Time WNBA All-Star
ESPN Broadcaster; Investor
Chiney Ogwumike is a two-time WNBA All-Star for the Los Angeles Sparks and a full-time, multi-platform ESPN commentator and NBA analyst. In August 2020 she became the first Black woman to host a national, daily sports-talk radio show, and she recently became a regular on ESPN’s NBA Today and NBA Countdown. The 2021 Forbes 30 under 30 honoree also produced 144, an ESPN Films documentary about the 2020 WNBA season.
Ogwumike, the first overall pick in the 2014 WNBA Draft, was the 2014 WNBA Rookie of the Year and currently serves as vice president of the WNBA Players Association. She earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Stanford while leading the Cardinal to three Final Fours. Off the court, Ogwumike is passionate about giving back and empowering the next generation. She has made numerous trips to Africa with NBA Africa and other nonprofits to help launch youth engagement initiatives using basketball as a tool for development.
Stephen Pagliuca
Co-Owner & Managing General Partner, Boston CelticsSenior Advisor, Bain Capital
Co-Owner & Co-Chairman, Atalanta B.C.
Stephen Pagliuca
Co-Owner & Managing General Partner, Boston Celtics
Senior Advisor, Bain Capital
Co-Owner & Co-Chairman, Atalanta B.C.
Stephen Pagliuca is co-owner and managing general partner of the Boston Celtics and serves on the NBA Board of Governors. As a managing partner and chairman of the Celtics’ basketball committee, he has focused on the development and improvement of the basketball operations. Pagliuca also serves as president of the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation, which helps children gain access to housing, healthcare and other services in partnership with local charities. In 2020, he helped establish the Boston Celtics United for Social Justice, a multi-focus commitment to addressing racial injustice and social inequities in the Greater Boston area. It is one of his many significant philanthropic efforts and contributions.
A highly accomplished business leader, Pagliuca is a senior advisor at Bain Capital, a leading global private investment firm that is based in Boston. In 2022, he became co-owner and co-chairman of the Serie A professional football club, Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio.
Chris Paul
NBA All-Star Guard, Phoenix SunsPhilanthropist & Entrepreneur
Chris Paul
NBA All-Star Guard, Phoenix Suns
Philanthropist & Entrepreneur
Chris Paul, playing in his 18th season, continues to shine on the court, cementing his place as one of the greats as part of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. He is a 12-time NBA All-Star.
Paul, who entered the League as the fourth overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, tops active players in career assists and steals and ranks in the top five in NBA history in both categories. His honors include the 2005-06 NBA Rookie of the Year Award, the 2013 NBA All-Star Game MVP Award, 11 All-NBA selections, and nine NBA All-Defensive Team selections.
Off the court, Paul served as president of the NBA Players Association for eight successful seasons and is an advocate for a number of endeavors and social justice initiatives, most notably his support of historically black colleges and universities. He graduated from Winston-Salem State. In 2016, he received the “Human Spirit Award” from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and was named ESPN’s “Sports Humanitarian of the Year.”
Jimmy Pitaro
ChairmanESPN & Sports Content
Jimmy Pitaro
Chairman
ESPN & Sports Content
James Pitaro was named chairman, ESPN and sports content, on October 12, 2020, as part of The Walt Disney Company’s strategic reorganization of its media and entertainment businesses. He oversees the entirety of Disney/ESPN’s multimedia offerings—including live sports programming, sports news and original and non-scripted sports-related content, audio, digital and social endeavors—plus all sports-related content for Disney’s cable channels, ESPN+, and ABC.
Under Pitaro, ESPN has reached creative new rights agreements with the NFL, UFC, SEC, NHL, MLB, PGA Tour, La Liga, Wimbledon and more; remained cable’s leader in the key male and adult demos; achieved several ratings successes with a variety of shows and series; and continued to strengthen its hold as the sports leader on digital and social platforms.
Pitaro joined Disney in 2010 as co-president of its interactive department, where he led the turnaround of the digital media and gaming division.
Charles Porch
Vice President, Global PartnershipsCharles Porch
Vice President, Global Partnerships
Instagram
Charles Porch is vice president of global partnerships for Instagram. He has played a key role in Instagram’s growth from 30 million users when he joined nine years ago to more than 1 billion users today.
Porch and his team work with the most influential people, properties and events in the world to ensure their best possible presence on Instagram. His work spans multiple categories, including entertainment, music, fashion, sports, news, media and the creator space. Highlights of this work include partnerships with performers such as Beyoncé, organizations such as the NBA, events from global fashion weeks to the Olympics, and onboarding Pope Francis to the Instagram platform.
Prior to Instagram, Porch led Facebook’s music and entertainment partnerships team, and ran strategic relationships at Ning, a pioneering social platform. He began his career at Warner Bros Records, where he helped musicians navigate the world of technology.
Vivek Ranadivé
Owner & ChairmanSacramento Kings
Vivek Ranadivé
Owner & Chairman
Sacramento Kings
Vivek Ranadivé is the owner and chairman of the Sacramento Kings. He is an entrepreneur, technology visionary, best-selling author and philanthropist recognized for his innovative thinking.
As a technology entrepreneur, Ranadivé pioneered the use of real-time event processing software and created TIBCO, a multibillion-dollar software company. In addition to digitizing Wall Street, his software became the central nervous system for most of the world’s largest companies and government agencies. Ranadivé is also the founder and managing partner of Bow Capital, a partnership with the University of California to fund technology companies that advance society and make the world a better place.
Ranadivé is a longtime basketball fan whose affiliation with the NBA began in 2010, when he became the co-owner and vice chairman of the Golden State Warriors. In 2013, he became the first Indian majority owner of an NBA team when he purchased the Sacramento Kings, securing the team’s future in California’s capital city.
Michael Rubin
Chief Executive Officer, FanaticsCo-Chair, REFORM Alliance
Michael Rubin
Chief Executive Officer, Fanatics
Co-Chair, REFORM Alliance
Michael Rubin, noted internet entrepreneur, philanthropist, and social justice advocate, has built several multibillion-dollar direct-to-consumer companies. Driven by a passion for business and a life-long love of sports, Rubin is CEO of Fanatics, a global digital sports platform that is reimagining the fan experience across many different businesses, including e-commerce and licensed merchandise, physical and digital trading cards and collectibles, and sports betting and gaming. Rubin also founded GSI Commerce, which was sold to eBay in 2011 for $2.4 billion.
In addition to his entrepreneurial success, Rubin is an advocate for criminal justice reform and co-chair of REFORM Alliance, an organization dedicated to advancing criminal justice reform and eradicating antiquated probation laws that perpetuate injustice in the U.S. He is also the creator of the ALL IN Challenge, one of the largest digital fundraisers ever, which raised $60 million to feed those most in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Luis Silberwasser
Chairman & Chief Executive OfficerWarner Bros. Discovery Sports
Luis Silberwasser
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Warner Bros. Discovery Sports
Luis Silberwasser is chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, overseeing a premium U.S. sports rights portfolio highlighted by long-standing relationships with the NBA, NHL, NCAA and MLB.
In addition to its U.S. portfolio, global WBD Sports assets include Eurosport, the largest pan-European sports brand. In 2022, Eurosport merged with BT Sport to create a new sports destination for fans in the U.K. and Ireland, featuring an extensive collection of live sports coverage that includes the Olympic Games, Premier League and UEFA Champions League.
Silberwasser has held several senior leadership positions with Discovery including executive vice president and chief content officer of Discovery Networks International.
Prior to joining WBD Sports, Silberwasser was president of Univision Television Networks Group, overseeing the company’s U.S. broadcast and cable networks including entertainment, news and sports content divisions.
Ryan Smith
Founder, QualtricsOwner, Utah Jazz
Chairman, Smith Entertainment Group
Ryan Smith
Founder, Qualtrics
Owner, Utah Jazz
Chairman, Smith Entertainment Group
Ryan Smith is founder and executive chairman of Qualtrics, the leader and creator of the experience management (XM) category. He has grown the company from a basement startup to one of the fastest-growing technology companies in the world, with over 25 offices globally and more than 16,750 customers, including over 85 percent of the Fortune 100. The company sold to SAP for $8 billion in 2019 and went public two years later.
In 2016, Smith co-founded 5 For The Fight, the campaign to eradicate cancer by supporting groundbreaking cancer research. 5 For The Fight is crowdfunding for cancer research, inviting everyone to give $5 for the fight against cancer. In December 2020, he and his wife Ashley purchased the Utah Jazz and in January 2022 they purchased the MLS’s Real Salt Lake in partnership with David Blitzer.
Steve Stoute
Founder & Chief Executive OfficerUnitedMasters + Translation
Steve Stoute
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
UnitedMasters + Translation
Steve Stoute is an advertising entrepreneur and music industry pioneer. The founder and CEO of both UnitedMasters and Translation, Stoute was named “Executive of the Year” by Ad Age in 2013. With funding from Alphabet, Andreessen Horowitz and 21st Century Fox, Stoute’s companies operate at the intersection of technology, culture, innovation and storytelling.
UnitedMasters is a revolutionary platform that enables artists to maximize their creative and economic potential while allowing them to maintain full ownership of their master recording rights. Translation is a leading agency bringing together award-winning creative and insights to connect brands to culture. Translation works with some of today’s leading brands, including State Farm, AT&T, NBA, and Kaiser Permanente. The two companies come together to offer a unique brand to culture platform that leverages cultural insights to connect brands to audiences in a new, sophisticated way.
Tamika Tremaglio
Executive DirectorNational Basketball Players Association
Tamika Tremaglio
Executive Director
National Basketball Players Association
Tamika L. Tremaglio is the executive director of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA). In this role, she works on behalf of NBA players to ensure their rights are protected and that they are fairly compensated for the value they bring to the court and as ambassadors of the game around the world.
Prior to joining the NBPA, Tremaglio served as the managing principal for Deloitte’s greater Washington offices, where she managed more than 15,000 professionals across 17 offices to provide market-leading audit, tax, advisory, and consulting services. At Deloitte, Tremaglio built a thriving practice and advised a diverse range of clients on strategy development, corporate governance, talent management, organizational alignment, risk management, and regulatory compliance. In addition to her professional achievements, Tremaglio has dedicated a tremendous amount of time and effort to give back to her community through volunteering, mentorship, and board service.
Casey Wasserman
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, WassmermanChairperson, LA28 Olympic & Paralympic Games
Casey Wasserman
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Wassmerman
Chairperson, LA28 Olympic & Paralympic Games
Casey Wasserman is the chairman and CEO of Wasserman, a leading sports, music and entertainment marketing and management agency representing sports talent, music artists, brands and properties worldwide. He is also the chairperson of the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games, having been appointed in 2014 to head the city’s successful bid campaign. He was previously chairman of the Los Angeles Super Bowl Host Committee for Super Bowl LVI in 2022.
Wasserman also serves as president and CEO of the Wasserman Foundation, a private family foundation founded in 1952 by his grandparents, Lew and Edie Wasserman, funding education, arts and culture, health, service and global initiatives. He is a trustee of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and a board member of renowned philanthropic organizations including the Jules Stein Eye Institute, The LBJ Presidential Library and The Motion Picture & Television Fund.
Strauss Zelnick
Chief Executive OfficerTake-Two Interactive Software, Inc.
Strauss Zelnick
Chief Executive Officer
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.
Strauss Zelnick has a long history of leading media and communications enterprises and is deeply involved in originating investments, advising executives and guiding strategic and operational initiatives. He is a managing partner at ZMC, a leading private equity investor in media and entertainment companies, and serves as chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.
Prior to forming ZMC in 2001, Zelnick was president and CEO of BMG Entertainment, at that time one of the world’s largest music and entertainment companies with more than 200 record labels and operations in 54 countries. Before joining BMG Entertainment, he was president and CEO of Crystal Dynamics, a producer and distributor of interactive entertainment software. Prior to that, he spent four years as president and chief operating officer of 20th Century Fox, where he managed Fox’s worldwide motion picture production and distribution business.