Bill Jemas

Bill Jemas
Jemas at the Big Apple Convention in Manhattan, October 2, 2010.
Born	1958
Area(s)	Writer Editor
Notable works	Ultimate Marvel Universe Marville Origin
http://www.360ep.com/jemas.html

Bill Jemas is an American media entrepreneur, writer, and editor. He is a former vice president of Marvel Comics, and a founding partner at 360ep, a media management firm.

In 1980, Jemas received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rutgers University, where he majored in history and minored in philosophy and economics. In 1983 he graduated from Harvard Law School with a Juris Doctor.

After graduating Harvard, Jemas took a job as a tax attorney at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in New York. Disappointed by this work, he left after two years to work for the National Basketball Association, which he found to be more entrepreneurial, and allowed him to focus on managing a business and working on deals, which Jemas sees as two of the things he does best. It also gave him entry into the entertainment field, which he felt would open up lucrative opportunities. While at NBA, according to Jemas, he helped build an almost non-existent basketball card business into a multimillion-dollar enterprise.

Jemas became president of Fleer Entertainment Group and Fleer Corp in 1993, and appointed Jemas as executive vice president of Marvel Entertainment Group that year. In January 2000, he became president of consumer products, publishing and new media—essentially Marvel Comics' publisher. During his tenure, his tendencies toward micromanagement and provocative public statements made him a controversial figure.

He came to prominence at Marvel Comics (which owned Fleer), during the former's bankruptcy reorganizations. During his tenure, Jemas was key in replacing editor-in-chief Bob Harras with Joe Quesada. Jemas and Quesada formed the public face of Marvel, taking the roles of, said one observer, of "good cop and bad cop". Among the policies they implemented were Marvel's no-overship policy newsstand compilation magazines, adding the Marvel MAX line, entrenching Marvel Knights, and removal of the Comics Code from Marvel books. They also increased Marvel's publication of trade paperbacks, and are credited with sheparding the company from bankruptcy to profit, and with earning positive reviews from within and outside of the comics industry.