Liberty Media Names Derek Chang as CEO

Liberty Media has appointed Derek Chang, a veteran executive across the global media, sports and entertainment industries, as president and CEO.

Chang has been a director of Liberty Media since March 2021. Most recently, Chang was the executive chairman of EverPass Media, a joint venture he co-founded with Alex Kaplan in partnership with the NFL and RedBird Capital Partners, with a later investment from TKO, to create a new platform for the distribution of premium sports content into commercial establishments. He will be stepping down as executive chairman but remain on the board.

Chang was the CEO of NBA China from 2018 to 2020 and held various leadership roles at Scripps Network Interactive from 2013 to 2018, including head of international lifestyle channels based first in Singapore and then London. Prior to Scripps, Chang spent seven years at DIRECTV and served as executive VP of content strategy and development. Chang was at Charter Communications from 2003 to 2005 as executive VP of finance and strategy and interim co-CFO. He has also held senior executive positions with the YES Network and TCI Communications.

Chang will start in his new role on February 1. John Malone, chairman of Liberty Media, will serve as interim CEO until that time. Chang will join the executive committee of the Liberty Media board with John Malone, Vice Chairman Dob Bennett and Chase Carey. Additionally, Stefano Domenicali, president and CEO of Formula 1, will report to a committee of the Liberty Media board comprised of Bennett, Carey and Chang.

“I am thrilled to welcome Derek as the CEO of Liberty Media,” said Malone. “His expertise in both operating and investment roles, extensive understanding of our industries and familiarity with Liberty make him the ideal leader for Liberty’s next chapter. Personally, I have worked with Derek for over 25 years and am consistently impressed by his leadership style, breadth of expertise and global perspective. I look forward to supporting him and the Liberty management team as they continue to drive shareholder value.”

“I have had the privilege of working with John Malone and the Liberty team for many years during my time at TCI and DIRECTV and later as a board member of Starz and Liberty, and I have long admired their track record of value creation for investors and partners,” said Chang. “Our current focus is clear: optimizing the portfolio structure with the split-off of Liberty Live and supporting the growth of our attractive operating assets, including F1 and MotoGP post-acquisition, to continue their momentum and invest for the future. Looking further, Liberty has always been long-term-minded in its investment mandate yet nimble to move quickly on new opportunities. Both of these things will remain true in our strategy going forward.”