Entrepreneurship is a dream of many people. Achieving a role as a company president or CEO is also a goal of countless individuals. In his lifetime, Ross Levinsohn has managed to achieve both of these ambitions. His career started in 1985. The American University graduate chose a classmate as a business partner, and they founded Ross Productions. Their successful business served startups and other small businesses in need of comprehensive media solutions.
In 1989, Mr. Levinsohn and his business partner opted to move on, and they sold their business. Home Box Office offered Mr. Levinsohn an opportunity in its marketing department handling accounts for Time Warner Sports. He coordinated promotions for the division for about five years. CBS’s SportsLine needed a producer in 1994, so Mr. Levinsohn made a shift to the network at that time.
Ross Levinsohn observed the rapid growth of the internet in the mid- to late-1990s, and he wanted in on the action. That’s why he joined Alta Vista in 1999. He learned the behind-the-scenes coding and technology that changed communications. Though Alta Vista’s portal was outdone by other firms, the experience made a big adjustment to Mr. Levinsohn’s future plans.
Mr. Levinsohn decided to use those new tech skills and pair them with his marketing and communications skills to join Fox Interactive Sports Media in 2001. This was a good fit for him, and the board of directors chose him as the business’s CEO in 2004. By 2006, Mr. Levinsohn couldn’t put off the siren call of entrepreneurship any longer. He and a new business partner, James Heckman, started a digital advertising company.
Heckman and Levinsohn’s firm built a $28 million value in four years. Yahoo offered them that price, and they took it. Heckman used his share to found Maven. Mr. Levinsohn decided he liked being a CEO and filled that role at Yahoo, the Los Angeles Times and Tribune Company as well as other firms through 2019. Maven needed Mr. Levinsohn’s skills, and Heckman recruited him in 2019. Heckman wanted to retire from the industry in 2020, so he named Mr. Levinsohn as the CEO.