James A. Pitaro, Vice President, Yahoo! Media
8:30 – 9:30 AM
James A. Pitaro is currently the vice president of Yahoo! Media. Pitaro is responsible for guiding the strategic growth and continued development of Yahoo!’s media properties which reach more than 70 million unique visitors per month. In that role, Pitaro oversees the programming, content and regional business strategies for Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo! Sports, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Entertainment (Movies, TV, Music, omg!), Yahoo! Games, Shine and more.
In 2006, Pitaro became vice president and general manager of Yahoo! Sports where he was credited with leading Yahoo! Sports to its current position as the number one online sports destination. He led Yahoo! Inc.’s acquisition of the college destination Rivals.com and managed partnerships with the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NASCAR, UFC, and Turner Broadcasting to deliver compelling video, including live games and highlights.
Pitaro was previously vice president and head of business affairs for Yahoo! Music. In this position Pitaro managed the business affairs operations for the business unit and helped Yahoo! Music become the web’s number one music site, giving consumers the ability to watch, listen to and control their digital music experience directly on Yahoo!. He was integral in helping Yahoo! Music forge unique and valuable relationships with all of the major record labels and with such major brands as Nissan, Pepsi, and Saturn. Pitaro joined Yahoo! in August 2001 with the company’s acquisition of LAUNCH Media, Inc.
Before joining the Yahoo! team, Pitaro was vice president of business affairs for LAUNCH Media, Inc. Prior to joining LAUNCH Media, Inc., Pitaro worked as an associate at the law firms of Marshall, Conway & Wright and Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker, both based in New York City, focusing initially on commercial litigation and subsequently on media and entertainment transactions. A New York native, Pitaro graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics, and received his J.D. from St. John’s Law School.
