Scott Sassa, President, Hearst Entertainment & Syndication

As president of Hearst Entertainment & Syndication, Scott Sassa heads the company's interests in cable television networks, including ESPN, Lifetime, A&E, and History; television production and distribution; newspaper syndication; and merchandise licensing. Sassa, also senior vice president of Hearst Corporation, is a media industry innovator with broad digital, broadcast, and print backgrounds. Prior to joining Hearst, he served as founder and CEO of Uber, a consumer Internet start-up, and was a CEO-in-residence at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers from 2005 to 2006. Previously, he served as president and CEO of Friendster, and from 1997 to 2004, Sassa was an executive at NBC. While there, he oversaw the development and production of NBC's new primetime series, including such shows as The West Wing, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Scrubs. Before joining NBC, Sassa had been president and COO of Andrews Group, a unit of MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, and the CEO of Marvel Entertainment. He spent nine years at Turner Broadcasting System and is widely credited with building Turner's entertainment cable channels into industry leaders, launching seven networks over a seven-year period—including three of the top-five-rated basic cable networks.