Ross Levinsohn is the new CEO of Sports Illustrated. He has been promoted from his previous position as senior vice president of Yahoo′s (YHOO) Americas operation and has served on the company′s board since September 2013. Levinsohn replaces Terry Jernigan, who will stay on as an adviser to the company through the first quarter of 2015.
Sports illustrated CEO Levinsohn has a Master’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communications from Arizona State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Stanford University. Before joining Yahoo!, he was president of Disney Publishing Worldwide, Inc., overseeing Disney′s 20 best-selling magazines, including National Geographic Kids and Disney Adventures.
Levinsohn came to Yahoo! from NBC Universal, where he was senior vice president of NBCUniversal Media Inc., responsible for all network film, television, and digital operations. At NBCUniversal, Levinsohn oversaw a portfolio of companies, including Bravo, Syfy, E! Networks, and Universal Parks & Resorts. Before joining the media giant, Levinsohn was president of the Internet Entertainment Group at AOL Time Warner in Los Angeles.
Sports illustrated CEO Levinsohn is the son of Bruce Levinsohn, who served as president of Warner Bros. Entertainment during the late 1990s, the former head of Worldwide Television Marketing at Universal Studios, and a Forrester Research analyst.
Ross Levinsohn received many awards in his career, including the “2010 Digital Executive of the Year Award” from Ad Age, the “2009 Online Publisher of the Year Award” from Media Week, the “2009 Digital Deal-of-the Year Award” from Media Week and a Webby Awards People’s Voice Award.
He also received an Emmy award for his work on ABC′s (DIS) Live with Regis and Kelly in 1999. Levinsohn was also nominated for an Emmy award while working as a producer at NBC Sports. He co-hosted ESPN′s All Sports Show on ESPN2 with Brent Musburger in 2000. In addition, Levinsohn was a commentator for ABC’s (DIS) Superstars and ABC Evening News with Peter Jennings in 2000 and ESPN′s Sportscenter from 1998-2000.