Ann Sarnoff

Ann Marie Sarnoff (née Misiaszek; born c. 1961)^[1] is an American television executive.^[2] She became the chairwoman and CEO of Warner Bros. in the summer of 2019.^[3] Sarnoff was the first woman to hold the position at the company.^[4]

Sarnoff was born in Massachusetts. She is a 1979 graduate of Minnechaug Regional High School in Wilbraham, Massachusetts.^[5][6]

In 1983, Sarnoff received a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing from McDonough School of Business from Georgetown University.^[7][8] In 1987, Sarnoff received a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School.^[9][10]

Sarnoff started out as a strategic consultant at Marakon Associates.^[11]

From 1993 to 2003, Sarnoff worked at Viacom. Her first job at Viacom was in the corporate development department.^[12] After leaving corporate, Sarnoff was the head of Nickelodeon consumer products and business development during Geraldine Laybourne's leadership of the company.^[13] In 1999, while working at Nickelodeon, Sarnoff was part of a team that created the TV channel Noggin, a joint venture between Nickelodeon and Sesame Workshop. Sarnoff also helped create the television channel TV Land, which started as Nick at Nite's TV Land in 1996.^[14] Two shows she promoted were Rugrats and Blue's Clues. Sarnoff served as executive vice president of business strategy and program enterprises at VH1.^[15]

In 2001, she became chief operating officer of VH1 and Country Music Television, with the task of integrating the two channels.^[10][16] During her time at VH1, Sarnoff launched the TV channel, VH1 Classic.^[17]

In February 2004, Sarnoff was chief operating officer of the Women's National Basketball Association.^[7][11]

In 2006, Sarnoff joined Dow Jones Ventures as president and senior vice president of strategy, a position she held for four years.^[18][19] In this position, she ran the executive conference business for The Wall Street Journal.^[20][21]

From 2010 to 2015, Sarnoff was chief operating officer of BBC Worldwide North America, where she worked with Herb Scannell, who she had worked with at Nickelodeon.^[22] In August 2015, Sarnoff became president of BBC Studios Americas, formerly known as BBC Worldwide Americas.^[8] In 2015, she launched the subscription TV channel, BBC Earth, and promoted shows like Doctor Who, Top Gear, Dancing with the Stars, Sherlock, Orphan Black, and Killing Eve.^[23] From 2016 to 2018, Sarnoff was head of BBC Worldwide's Global Production Network.^[9] In 2017, she launched Britbox, a streaming service for North America.^[24][25]

In the summer of 2019, Sarnoff became the first woman CEO of Warner Bros, a subsidiary of WarnerMedia. Sarnoff succeeded Kevin Tsujihara and reported to John Stankey.^[2] Toby Emmerich, the head of Warner Bros. Pictures; Peter Roth, who is the head of the Warner Bros. television group; and Kim Williams, executive VP and chief financial officer of Warner Bros. who oversaw Otter Media, reported to Sarnoff in her position as head of Warner Bros.^[26][27] On April 8, 2022, she stepped down from her role upon the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc.^[28][29]

In 1990, Sarnoff married Richard Sarnoff, a former media executive who works in private equity.^[1][10][30] They live in New York City and have two children.^[7][9][13] She relocated to Los Angeles for her position at Warner Bros.^[3]

Sarnoff's husband's great uncle, David Sarnoff, was the long-time chairman of RCA, a pioneer of American television and radio, and was known as "The General" or "General Sarnoff".^[31] He is credited with founding NBC in 1926 and RKO Radio Pictures in 1928.^[2]

• ART:21, board member (former)
• 2017–present: Britbox, chairman of board^[25]
• 2017–present: BritishAmerican Business, international advisory board^[32]
• 2018–present: Georgetown University, board of directors^[33]
• 2008–present: Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business, board of advisors, executive committee vice chair^[34]
• Harvard Business School Women's Association of New York, board member^[35]
• 2012–present: HSN, Inc., board member^[36]
• 2017–present: PayPal Holdings, Inc., board member^[37]
• New York Public Radio, co-chair of digital task force^[38]
• The Women's Forum of New York, board of directors, vice president;^[39] 2004–present: Member^[40]
• 2022–present: Motion Picture & Television Fund, board member^[41]
• 2023–present: Cineworld, board member^[42]

• 2011–2018: CableFAX Magazine, one of the Most Powerful Women in Cable^[43]
• 2012: Harvard Business School, Inspiring Women Award^[44]
• 2017: The Women's Project Theater, Women of Achievement Award^[45]
• 2019: Georgetown University, Georgetown Media Alliance, Wall Street Alliance, Honoree^[46]

• Misiaszek Sarnoff, Ann (2006). "I Do Know How She Does It". In Morgan Steiner, Leslie (ed.). Mommy Wars: Stay-at-Home and Career Moms Face Off on Their Choices, Their Lives, Their Families. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-1-588-36598-9. OCLC 430501644.
• Pham, Tiffany; Sarnoff, Ann (2018). "Crush It In Corporate Life". You Are a Mogul: How to Do the Impossible, Do It Yourself, and Do It Now. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-501-19187-9. OCLC 1050872266.

• Ann Sarnoff at BBC Studios - Americas
• Ann Sarnoff at IMDb