Penske Media Corp. has appointed George Grobar as chief operating officer. Grobar previously served as executive vice president for the company.
He will be responsible for working with PMC leaders to develop growth plans and implement operations and financial plans across its portfolio of brands including Variety, WWD, Footwear News, Deadline, Indiewire, TVLine, Hollywood Life, Gold Derby, and Variety Latino.
“George is an accomplished executive with more than 25 years of financial and operational leadership experience,” said Jay Penske, PMC chairman and CEO, to whom Grobar will report. “Over the last decade, George has been one of the single greatest contributors to PMC’s success and relentless growth. His knowledge and expertise will undoubtedly continue to be instrumental as we continue to scale the business globally.”
As COO, Grobar will focus on the smooth and effective integration of acquisitions, continuing to expand PMC’s digital footprint, and working with the leadership teams across the company to deliver improving financial and business performance.
“PMC has been rapidly expanding and there are tremendous opportunities for growth in both our current businesses and ones we will undoubtedly be adding,” said Grobar. “PMC is one of the few companies on the internet that can boast having profitable brands across our entire portfolio. That is something we are truly proud of, and would not be possible if we did not have such powerful brands as well as truly world-class people throughout the company. Getting the chance to work with this team is rewarding and I look forward to the challenges ahead.”
Grobar joined Penske Media in 2009 and, in addition to his new COO role, he will continue to serve as a director on the PMC Board as well as on the board of PMC’s joint venture in India with Zee TV. Grobar joined PMC as chief financial officer and was actively involved in integrating several new acquisitions into the company, building the PMC joint venture operations in India (which includes India.com, Bollywoodlife.com, The Health Site, Cricket Country and BGR India). He also played a lead role in the integration of the Variety and Fairchild operations.
Prior to PMC, Grobar spent 13 years at the Walt Disney Company and eight years at Unisys. He has a B.A. degree in Economics and English from Amherst College in Massachusetts and an MBA in Finance from the U. of Michigan.
