Ben Sherwood, former president of Disney ABC Television Group, has been named CEO and publisher at The Daily Beast. Joanna Coles, former chief content officer at Hearst Magazines, was named chief creative and content officer.
”These are tough times for digital journalism, but the combined experience, expertise and energy of Ben and Joanna have made me an optimist about their ability to make The Beast an enduring and successful enterprise,“ Barry Diller, chairman and senior executive of The Daily Beast parent IAC, said.
Sherwood and Coles get an equity stake equivalent to roughly half of The Daily Beast, reported The New York Times.
“Timing is everything, and the current media hellstorm feels like the ideal moment to jump back into journalism,” Sherwood said. “Yes, everything feels upside down right now with busted business models and transformative technology. With so much disruption — or maybe because of it — we believe this is the ideal entrepreneurial opportunity to deliver on The Beast’s insurgent promise. We are excited to work with the dynamic team at The Beast, cultivate and recruit great talent, and help unleash its populist potential.”
Sherwood, 60, was founder and CEO of youth sports tech firm Mojo Sports from 2019 to 2023.
Earlier in his career, he was an executive producer on Good Morning America, then was upped to president of ABC News in late 2010. He took over as co-chairman, Disney Media Networks, and president, Disney/ABC Television Group, in 2015, after Anne Sweeney stepped down.
Tina Brown launched The Daily Beast in 2008 with backing from IAC. It merged with Newsweek in 2010, but IAC sold Newsweek in 2013.
Sherwood described his new post as a “big and fun new challenge” on LinkedIn.
Educated at Oxford and Harvard, he is the author of two novels: The Man Who Ate the 747 and The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud.
