Strauss Zelnick

Strauss Zelnick is a recognized leader in the media and entertainment business, having held top executive positions in the recorded music, television, video, motion picture and entertainment software industries.

In 2001 Zelnick founded ZelnickMedia, which invests in traditional and new media and entertainment companies and provides general management and financial advisory services to its portfolio companies. Among ZelnickMedia's companies is the recorded music company Columbia Music Entertainment, Inc., of which ZelnickMedia took control in association with Ripplewood Holdings Japan and Zelnick was elected Chairman.

Previously, Zelnick served as President and Chief Executive Officer of BMG Entertainment, where he managed one of the world's largest music and entertainment companies with more than 200 record labels and operations in 54 countries, as well as one of the leading music publishing companies and the world's largest music club. As the $4.7 billion music division of Bertelsmann AG, BMG's record labels include Arista Records, RCA Records and J Records and is home to such worldwide superstars as Whitney Houston, Annie Lennox, Christina Aguilera, Eros Ramazzotti, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Santana, Sarah McLachlan, Kenny G, TLC, Dave Matthews Band and Toni Braxton, among many others.

While at the helm of BMG, Zelnick guided the company to record revenues and profits and became a leading voice for the music industry. As an early and outspoken champion of the need to embrace the new media revolution, he pushed BMG to the entertainment industry's cutting edge in terms of its own online activities and adoption of new technologies. Zelnick's leadership also extended to issues of cultural and political importance to the industry, specifically on youth and violence. In September 2000 he testified on the subject before the United States Senate Committee on Commerce.

Prior to being appointed President and CEO of BMG Entertainment, Zelnick held the same title at the company's North American business unit from 1994 to 1998. Under his leadership, that division achieved an all-time high U.S. album share of 19.6% as well as record revenues of $2 billion for 1999.

Previously, Zelnick was President and Chief Executive Officer of Crystal Dynamics, a leading producer and distributor of interactive entertainment software. Prior to that, he worked for four years as President and Chief Operating Officer of 20th Century Fox and spent the three previous years at Vestron Inc., the leading independent motion picture producer and distributor at the time, as a senior executive before rising to the position of President and Chief Operating Officer. He began his career in the entertainment industry as an executive in the International Television Division at Columbia Pictures.

Currently Zelnick serves on the boards of Insignia Financial Group, Inc., Carver Bancorp, Inc. and UGO Networks, Inc. In addition, Zelnick also serves on the Boards of Trustees of Wesleyan University and WNYC. He holds an MBA and a J.D. from Harvard University and a B.A. from Wesleyan University.