Jim Bankoff
Jim Bankoff | |
---|---|
![]() Bankoff in July 2018 | |
Born | James Philip Bankoff December 23, 1969 |
Citizenship | American |
Education | |
Occupation(s) | Chairman and CEO of Vox Media |
Employer | Vox Media |
Spouse |
Diane Elson (m. 2003) |
Parents |
|
James Philip Bankoff (born December 23, 1969) is an American media executive who is the co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer (CEO) of Vox Media. He previously worked for AOL and joined Vox Media's predecessor, SB Nation, in 2009.
Early life and education
[edit]Bankoff was born to Marvin and Adrienne Bankoff on December 23, 1969, and raised in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.[1][2][3] His father owned a jewelry business and his mother worked as an editor.[3] Bankoff developed an interest in media at an early age.[4][5] He obtained a bachelor's degree in international studies from Emory University.[2] During his senior year, he interned at CNN.[6] Bankoff earned his Master of Business Administration degree at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.[7]
Career
[edit]Early career and AOL
[edit]Bankoff initially worked as a production assistant for the WETA-TV series Washington Week.[5] He also worked at Ruder Finn's Global Public Affairs group, where he became an account supervisor in 1991.[8][9] After graduating from Wharton, he declined job offers from The New York Times, The Walt Disney Company, and a record company to join AOL in 1995.[5][6] In various roles, he worked on projects including AIM,[10] AOL.com,[11] AOL Music, FanHouse,[4] MapQuest, Moviefone, and Netscape.[3][7] He focused on the company's digital content business,[12] helped the company acquire Engadget,[3][7][13] and was involved in the creation of TMZ.[14][15]
Bankoff became director of business development for AOL Greenhouse in 1996.[9] He was named vice-president of strategy and operations for the AOL brand in 1998,[9] and oversaw business strategy, category management, and content acquisition. He also directed AOL Music and AOL Plus.[8] Following the merger of AOL and Netscape, Bankoff became president of Netscape in 2001.[16] He was responsible for business operations and the growth of Netscape.com and Netbusiness.[8][17] He then served as president of AOL Web Properties,[18][19] managing AIM, CompuServe, ICQ, MapQuest, Moviefone, and Netscape.[9][20]
Bankoff held the role of executive vice-president of programming and products from 2002.[9][12][21] Bankoff left AOL in late 2006,[3][7] working as a consultant for The Huffington Post and SB Nation, starting in 2008.[12]
SB Nation and Vox Media
[edit]As an angel investor for SB Nation, Bankoff led the company's first round of financing. He became its chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) in January 2009.[7][12] He expanded SB Nation's network and number of writers.[22] In November 2011, Bankoff co-founded Vox Media as the parent company for SB Nation and The Verge.[23] As Vox Media's chairman and CEO, Bankoff pursued growing the company through acquisitions.[13] He oversees the company's media brands.[2][24]
Accolades
[edit]In 2015, Bankoff was included in Washingtonian's list of the "100 Top Tech Leaders" in Washington, D.C.,[25] and ranked number 18 on Business Insider's "Silicon Alley 100" list of the "coolest, most inspiring people in the New York tech industry".[26] He was also included in The Hollywood Reporter's list of "The 35 Most Powerful People in New York Media" in 2016.[27] Bankoff ranked number 67 on Mediaite's list of the most influential figures in media in 2017.[28]
Personal life
[edit]Bankoff and Diane Elson, who founded the rug design company Elson&Company in 1998, married on April 26, 2003.[1] Bankoff is a fan of the New York Yankees.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Weddings/Celebrations; Diane Elson, James Bankoff". The New York Times. April 27, 2003. ISSN 0362-4331. OCLC 1645522. Archived from the original on February 26, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
- ^ a b c Martin, Rachel; Levine, Cecilia (December 23, 2016). "Happy Birthday to Upper Saddle River's Jim Bankoff". Northern Highlands Daily Voice. Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f Heath, Thomas (December 7, 2014). "As investments roll in, Vox Media's Bankoff tries to keep creativity alive". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 2269358. Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
- ^ a b Solomon, Brian (December 6, 2012). "Meet Vox Media: The Digital Upstart That Wants to Be Conde Nast 2.0". Forbes. ISSN 0015-6914. Archived from the original on December 9, 2012. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
- ^ a b c Farhi, Paul (April 7, 2014). "Vox Media ventures into general news and news analysis with Vox.com". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 13, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
- ^ a b Krueger, Alyson (June 23, 2015). "Bankoff's Time". The Pennsylvania Gazette. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e Bond, Shannon (October 22, 2017). "Jim Bankoff, Vox Media CEO, on moving into TV". Financial Times. ISSN 0307-1766. Archived from the original on September 21, 2019. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
- ^ a b c Barnes, Cecily (January 18, 2001). "Bankoff named Netscape president". ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 22, 2014. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e Garrity, Brian (November 6, 2004). "AOL Is Increasingly Seen as a Launch Pad for Original Content". Billboard. Vol. 116, no. 45. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
- ^ Sloane, Garett (October 6, 2017). "Twitter Eulogizes AIM as App Sounds Death Knell". Advertising Age. Archived from the original on March 7, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
- ^ "Jim Bankoff's Vox Media nears $40 million funding target". Reuters. October 15, 2013. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
- ^ a b c d Lincoln, Kevin (January 9, 2012). "The Raid on AOL: How Vox Pillaged Engadget and Founded an Empire". Business Insider. Axel Springer SE. Archived from the original on May 13, 2013. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
- ^ a b "PubTech Connect: Meet Internet Visionary Jim Bankoff, CEO of Vox Media and Keynote Speaker". Publishers Weekly. February 8, 2017. ISSN 0000-0019. Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
- ^ Eldon, Eric (April 25, 2013). "Vox Media's Jim Bankoff to Talk the Business of High-Quality Media at Disrupt NY". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
- ^ Shontell, Alyson (March 13, 2014). "VOX CEO: Here's How We're Able To Get Tons Of Traffic Without Gaming Facebook". Business Insider. Archived from the original on July 13, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
- ^ Pain, Steve (June 12, 2001). "E-Business: Netscape Media Hub Makeover". Birmingham Post. Trinity Mirror. ISSN 0963-7915. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
- ^ "Housing Starts Fall for Year". The Washington Post. January 19, 2001. Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
- ^ Klein, Alec (August 22, 2001). "Netscape's New Mission; Web Pioneer Promotes Parent AOL Time Warner's Products". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
- ^ Pain, Steve (August 23, 2001). "AOL to axe 1,2000 after Internet ad slowdown". Birmingham Post. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
- ^ Klein, Alec; Joyce, Amy (August 22, 2001). "AOL to Lay Off 1,700 More Workers; About 425 Jobs in Va. Affected; Internet Unit To Trim Workforce 10%". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
- ^ Steigrad, Alexandra (October 17, 2015). "Media People: Vox Media's Jim Bankoff". Women's Wear Daily. ISSN 0043-7581. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
- ^ Kramer, Staci D. (April 4, 2011). "SB Nation Wins Tech Publishing Fantasy Draft; Signs Engadget Team". Gigaom. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
- ^ "Consumer groups fight database lawsuit". The Washington Post. November 1, 2011. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
- ^ Braiker, Brian (September 30, 2017). "Introducing Ad Lib, a New Podcast from Ad Age. First Up: Vox Media's Jim Bankoff". Advertising Age. Archived from the original on February 2, 2018. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
- ^ Gaynor, Michael J. (May 4, 2015). "Washington's 100 Top Tech Leaders". Washingtonian. ISSN 0043-0897. Archived from the original on December 2, 2017. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
- ^ . Business Insider. Archived from the original on April 19, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
- ^ "The 35 Most Powerful People in New York Media". The Hollywood Reporter. April 6, 2016. Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
- ^ "Most Influential in Media 2017". Mediaite. December 20, 2017. Archived from the original on March 21, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
External links
[edit]- Jim Bankoff at IMDb