Who is Mark Thompson? CEO of CNN, Age, Wife & Children

Warner Bros. Discovery has named former New York Times CEO Mark Thompson as the new chairman and CEO of CNN. Thompson will start work on October 9th.

Thompson is replacing Chris Licht, who left CNN in June after a rocky 13-month tenure. Licht was criticized for ousting longtime anchor Don Lemon and for being paranoid and obsessed with his predecessor, Jeff Zucker.

Thompson is a respected media executive who has a long track record of success. He helped revitalize the Times’ finances by growing the paper’s digital subscriber base. He is also known for his strong leadership and his ability to build and manage teams.

Mark Thompson was born into a humble family in London, but he rose to become the most powerful man in British broadcasting.

Thompson joined the BBC as a lowly production trainee in 1979, but he quickly rose through the ranks. He became editor of the Nine O’Clock News at the age of 30, and then controller of BBC2.

In 2004, Thompson was appointed Director-General of the BBC, the most senior position in British broadcasting. He was the first person to hold the job who had not worked their way up through the BBC ranks.

Thompson’s tenure as Director-General was marked by controversy. He was criticized for his handling of the Hutton Inquiry, which investigated the BBC’s reporting of the Iraq War. He was also criticized for his high salary and his decision to axe popular programs like “Top Gear”.

In 2012, Thompson stepped down as Director-General. He is now the chairman of Ancestry.com, the world’s largest genealogy company.

But Thompson’s legacy is still being debated. Some say he was a brilliant broadcaster who transformed the BBC into a modern media organization. Others say he was aloof and out of touch, and that he presided over a decline in the BBC’s standards.

Only time will tell where Thompson will ultimately rank among the BBC’s great directors-general. But one thing is for sure: he was a complex and controversial figure who left a lasting mark on British broadcasting.