Ben Sherwood

EXCLUSIVE
  • CEO, Daily Beast & Founder and CEO, MOJO
  • President ABC News (2010-2014) and Disney|ABC Television Group (2014-2019)
  • Former Co-Chairman of Disney Media Networks
  • Award-Winning Journalist and New York Times Bestselling Author

CEO of the Daily Beast and New York Times bestselling author Ben Sherwood offers game-changing insights on bold leadership in times of disruption. Most recently, he was the founder and CEO of MOJO, a venture-backed tech and media platform, which quickly won the Webby Award for best sports app on the internet, was named one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company and recognized as one of the best employers in sports by Front Office Sports. In April 2024, IAC chairman Barry Diller announced a strategic partnership with Sherwood, naming him publisher and CEO of The Daily Beast, the digital news platform, and a significant shareholder in the company. Previously, Sherwood was co-chair of Disney Media Networks and president of the Disney ABC Television Group. There, he oversaw the company’s global television business with 12,000 employees, $12.5B in revenue and 25,000 hours of original programming per year. Before that, Sherwood served as president of ABC News, leading the organization to #1 in the ratings, every major award in broadcast journalism, record profitability, and groundbreaking strategic partnerships with Univision and Yahoo! A compelling keynote speaker, Sherwood regularly receives rave reviews such as: “Ben's message is deep, highly relevant, and of great intrinsic value. He hit the ball deep into the seats.” (The Masters Forum)

Sought after for his masterful storytelling, Sherwood shares the secrets to unleashing creativity and innovation, and leading through disruption. Sherman has also exec produced Good Morning America, senior produced NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, and wrote a few bestselling books, including Charlie St. Cloud (which was made into a Universal feature film), The Man Who Ate the 747 (in development as a Warner Brothers Discovery feature film), and The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science that Could Save Your Life, a New York Times nonfiction bestseller. Consistently ranked in The Hollywood Reporter’s annual list of “Most Powerful People in Entertainment,” Sherwood provides unparalleled insight into leadership, storytelling, and business.

 


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Past Hosts Include:
  • The Masters Forum
  • Symantec
  • Bob Iger, Chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney Company
  • New York Magazine
  • MySpace
  • Nimcom
  • NAB Show
  • NYU's Stern School of Business
  • American Bankers Association
  • Pension Real Estate Association
Rave Reviews About Ben Sherwood
Ben's message is deep, highly relevant, and of great intrinsic value. He hit the ball deep into the seats.

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Talks & Conversations with Ben Sherwood
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Lessons Learned from Running Global Brands & Startups

Profound creative leader BEN SHERWOOD has headed some of the biggest organizations in the world (ABC, Disney) as well as some of the smallest (his own startup, MOJO). In this enlightening conversation, Sherwood elucidates the need-to-know for succeeding in corporate and entrepreneurial circles, outl ...

Profound creative leader BEN SHERWOOD has headed some of the biggest organizations in the world (ABC, Disney) as well as some of the smallest (his own startup, MOJO). In this enlightening conversation, Sherwood elucidates the need-to-know for succeeding in corporate and entrepreneurial circles, outlining the lessons he has learned moving through both.

The Ingredients of Successful Storytelling

Global media executive, New York Times bestselling author, and award-winning creative BEN SHERWOOD shares the ingredients of the most successful stories in this insightful conversation. Reflecting on how companies, brands, and products can tell the best story to stakeholders, Sherwood shares case st ...

Global media executive, New York Times bestselling author, and award-winning creative BEN SHERWOOD shares the ingredients of the most successful stories in this insightful conversation. Reflecting on how companies, brands, and products can tell the best story to stakeholders, Sherwood shares case studies from his time as founder and CEO of MOJO, CEO of the Daily Beast, co-chair of Disney Media Networks and president of the Disney ABC Television Group, and president of ABC News.

Leading Through Disruption

Top media executive and CEO of MOJO BEN SHERWOOD offers game-changing insights on bold leadership in times of disruption. Drawing on his experience as President of Disney|ABC Television Group, where he managed a $12B business with over 12K employees, Sherwood shares inspiring takeaways about overcom ...

Top media executive and CEO of MOJO BEN SHERWOOD offers game-changing insights on bold leadership in times of disruption. Drawing on his experience as President of Disney|ABC Television Group, where he managed a $12B business with over 12K employees, Sherwood shares inspiring takeaways about overcoming obstacles, building powerful teams, and unleashing creativity and innovation to take your business to the next level.

Disney: Lessons in Leadership & Innovation

As Co-Chairman of Media Networks and President of Disney|ABC Television, BEN SHERWOOD was a highly respected executive at The Walt Disney Company, overseeing 12,000 employees, 25,000 hours of television production per year, and a $12B business. Drawing on his experience in the inner sanctum of the c ...

As Co-Chairman of Media Networks and President of Disney|ABC Television, BEN SHERWOOD was a highly respected executive at The Walt Disney Company, overseeing 12,000 employees, 25,000 hours of television production per year, and a $12B business. Drawing on his experience in the inner sanctum of the company, Sherwood reveals key leadership lessons of Walt Disney and the innovation secrets of the world’s most admired media company. Building on Walt’s colorful origins and life story, Sherwood shares vital lessons from Walt’s epic battles to create the Magic Kingdom. With captivating tales and a memorable visual presentation, this speech spans the 100-year history of the company as it adapted to rapid cultural and technological change, and Sherwood offers uplifting and practical insights about building brands, managing disruption, creating powerful connections with customers, and delivering real value for shareholders.

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Former Disney president Ben Sherwood on how disruptive innovation created Disney+

As Co-Chairman of Disney Media Networks and President of Disney|ABC Television, BEN SHERWOOD was instrumental in the creation of Disney+. Sherwood led difficult executive conversations during the turbulence of streaming’s emergence, offering Disney+ as a way to address the legacy company’s market from an entirely new perspective in response to market changes. Willing to butt heads in the boardroom, Sherwood turned to the true academic theory of disruptive innovation to continue working through barrier after barrier, ultimately creating an entirely new revenue stream for Disney. Sherwood has spoken to groups including the Global Leadership Summit, the HIMSS Global Health Conference and Exhibition, Youngstown State University, and more on disruptive innovation, sharing stories from the upper echelons of media decision-making.

Watch Ben Sherwood speak at the Global Leadership Summit >>

Event Success Story: Ben Sherwood provides crucial insight to Youngstown University

New York Times bestselling author, CEO of the Daily Beast, and founder and CEO of MOJO BEN SHERWOOD was invited to speak at Youngstown University as part of the Thomas Colloquium on Free Enterprise. As a foremost business leader in media, entertainment, and culture, Sherwood provided invaluable insight to students, faculty, and community members on our fast-shifting consumer landscape, sharing stories from his time leading global organizations such as ABC and Disney as well as founding MOJO. A Youngstown University dean told us, “What a wonderful evening of conversation with Ben Sherwood. His ability to make important points of his conversation by using stories from the history of Youngstown made us (the audience) feel he was from here. We look forward to hearing about his next adventure.”

Watch Ben Sherwood speak at the Global Leadership Summit >>

Watch Ben Sherwood deliver a keynote at Mipcom >>

Ben Sherwood and the secrets of 'The Survivors Club'

A master storyteller and one of the top media executives in the world, BEN SHERWOOD helps organizations navigate the phases of surviving this Covid crisis: Pre-impact, Impact, Recoil, Rescue, and Recovery. A Former Co-Chairman of Disney Media Networks and President of Disney|ABC Television Group from 2014 to 2019, Sherwood successfully led a top media organization through a period of rapid disruption, with new streaming services and technology upending business models and consumer behavior. Sherwood is also the author of the New York Times bestseller, The Survivors Club, in which he explores the secrets and science of the world's greatest survivors. A 2020 republication of the book sheds light on surviving amid the coronavirus pandemic specifically, and how to adapt and overcome a period of tremendous trauma and adversity.

In his dynamic presentations, Sherwood draws on his experience as a top media executive as well as his Survivors Club research and interviews in order to provide riveting and uplifting stories of ordinary people in extraordinary situations; actionable takeaways to strengthen a listener's personal resilience; and lifesaving tips on how to survive and thrive after the crisis. He receives rave reviews at every engagement, such as: "Everyone loved him. They were captivated. His stories were fantastic. And the feedback I received was tremendous" (Symantec), and "Ben's message is deep, highly relevant, and of great intrinsic value. He hit the ball deep into the seats" (The Master's Forum). 

Please note that Sherwood’s proceeds from his Survivors Club speech will go to Feeding America and the International Rescue Committee to help those most afflicted by the pandemic.

Ben Sherwood provides lessons on leadership and disruption

A master storyteller and one of the top media executives in the world, BEN SHERWOOD served as Co-Chairman of Disney Media Networks and President of Disney|ABC Television Group from 2014 to 2019.  Consistently ranked in The Hollywood Reporter's annual list of the "Most Powerful People in Entertainment," Sherwood offers game-changing insights on bold leadership in times of disruption, the art of the turnaround, and the secrets to unleashing innovation and creative-thinking amid challenging times

At Disney/ABC, Sherwood managed a twelve billion dollar business with 12,000 employees responsible for the creation of more than 25,000 hours of original content every year. Leading the organization through a period of rapid disruption, with new streaming services and technology upending business models and consumer behavior, Sherwood and his team consistently delivered outstanding results measured in profitability, cultural relevance and creative excellence. As New York Magazine wrote of him: "Many at ABC News praise (Ben) Sherwood as perhaps the most engaged, inspiring, empathetic leader that the television industry has ever produced." 

Sharing radically candid first-hand insights on leadership, disruption, innovation and more, Sherwood receives rave reviews at every engagement, such as: "Everyone loved him. They were captivated. His stories were fantastic. And the feedback I received was tremendous" (Symantec), and "Ben's message is deep, highly relevant, and of great intrinsic value. He hit the ball deep into the seats" (The Master's Forum). Sherwood’s presentations are deeply engaging and inspiring. He mixes riveting video, with stories from the trenches of television, and memorable insights from history, politics, science and nature, to provide audiences with a highly-relevant, one-of-a-kind experience. 

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Books by Ben Sherwood
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Biography

CEO of the Daily Beast Ben Sherwood is an entrepreneur, media exec, journalist, and author. Most recently, he was the founder and CEO of MOJO, a venture-backed tech and media platform on a mission to make youth sports fun, easy and accessible for everyone, 60M+ families in the U.S. and 500M+ worldwide. The MOJO app launched in February 2021 and quickly won the Webby Award for best sports app on the internet. Along the way, MOJO was named one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company and one of the best employers in sports by Front Office Sports. MOJO partnered with the greatest leagues and teams including the NBA, MLB, NFL FLAG, MLS, and FC Barcelona, providing high-quality instructional content to 5M+ families in all 50 states and 178 countries. In December 2023, MOJO was acquired by TeamSnap, the #1 youth sports tech platform with 25M registered users and 2M daily active users. TeamSnap is owned by Waud Capital, a Chicago-based private equity firm. Sherwood now serves on the board of TeamSnap.

Previously, Sherwood was co-chair of Disney Media Networks and president of the Disney ABC Television Group. There, he oversaw the company’s global television business with 12,000 employees, $12.5B in revenue and 25,000 hours of original programming per year. Before that, Sherwood served as president of ABC News, leading the organization to #1 in the ratings, every major award in broadcast journalism, record profitability, and groundbreaking strategic partnerships with Univision and Yahoo! In April 2024, IAC chairman Barry Diller announced a strategic partnership with Sherwood, naming him publisher and CEO of The Daily Beast, the digital news platform, and a significant shareholder in the company.

Along the way, Sherman exec produced Good Morning America, senior produced NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, and wrote a few bestselling books, including Charlie St. Cloud (which was made into a Universal feature film), The Man Who Ate the 747 (in development as a Warner Brothers Discovery feature film), and The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science that Could Save Your Life, a New York Times nonfiction bestseller.