Bob Pittman | |
---|---|
Pittman on July 20, 2011
|
|
Born |
Robert Warren Pittman December 28, 1953 Jackson, Mississippi, US |
Occupation | Businessman |
Known for |
MTV iHeartMedia |
Spouse(s) | Veronique Choa Pittman |
Children | 3 |
Robert Warren "Bob" Pittman (born December 28, 1953), is an American businessman. Currently Chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel), a global media and entertainment company, Pittman led the team that created MTV (eventually becoming its President). Pittman joined Clear Channel in November 2010 as an investor and the company’s Chairman of Media and Entertainment Platforms, was named CEO of iHeartMedia (formerly known as Clear Channel Communications) in 2011 and was named Chairman in 2013. Clear Channel became iHeartMedia, Inc. in September 2014. Pittman has also been the CEO of MTV Networks, AOL, Six Flags Theme Parks, Quantum Media, Century 21 Real Estate and Time Warner Enterprises, and COO of America Online, Inc. and AOL Time Warner.
Pittman has also been a radio and TV programmer, marketer, investor and media entrepreneur who has had multiple careers in a number of consumer-focused industries. According to Sean Parker, Pittman is the only media mogul who’s genuinely an entrepreneur. In giving him its first-ever 'Media Visionary" award, advertising publication Adweek referred to him as a "jack of all media" and former MTV executive Tom Freston referred to him as "the wonder boy of branding."
Recognized for his creativity and risk taking, Pittman stated in a Cannes Lions TV interview with musician and Oscar-winning actor Jared Leto at the 2014 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity that “Someone told me early on when you are trying to solve a problem it’s the mix of math and magic. Understanding the problem, the analytical and then you need to have the creativity, you got to have the first of a magical ideal to solve the problem and I think that is what creativity is.”
In addition during a conversation with USA Today at the Festival Pittman also offered insights on how to bring about professional triumphs advising readers to “Have faith in gut feelings.”