John Pleasants

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For the American journalist and businessman, see John Hampden Pleasants.
John Pleasants

John Fendall Pleasants is an American entrepreneur and business executive who has led a number of digital media and technology companies over the last two decades.[1]

Early life and education[edit]

John Pleasants was born on August 19, 1965, in Wilmington, Delaware. After receiving his bachelor's degree at Yale University in 1987,[2] Pleasants obtained an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1993.[3][4]

Career[edit]

From 1988 to 1991, Pleasants occupied a position as sales and marketing executive for Hygiene Industries.[5] Afterward, Pleasants spent three years as the brand manager for PepsiCo/Frito-Lay from 1995 to 1998, and then began a career with CitySearch, which became Ticketmaster Online CitySearch and ultimately Ticketmaster.[6] Pleasants took Ticketmaster Online CitySearch public in September 1998, and subsequently served as Ticketmaster's CEO from 1999 to 2005.[7] From 2005-2007 he ran Revolution Health[8] and then entered the gaming industry as COO of Electronic Arts in 2008.[9] Pleasants then left to be CEO of Playdom, a social gaming company that sold to Disney for $563 million in 2010. Pleasants also had success in helping to bring Disney Interactive from significant losses to material profits, most notably with the launch of the title Disney Infinity.[10][11] After leaving Disney in 2013, Pleasants was recruited by Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC as Executive Vice President (EVP) of Media Solutions and he led their mobile content strategy through the summer of 2016.[12][13][14]

Since August 2016, Pleasants has been the CEO of a smart kitchen startup, Brava Home, a company working on an intelligent oven.[15] In November of 2019, Brava was acquired by The Middleby Corporation, a leading foodservice equipment company. [16][17] Pleasants serves on numerous boards, including M&M Media, Inc., the maker of TREBEL Music mobile media distribution platform.

Awards and recognition[edit]

Honor Company Year(s)
Sports Business Journal's Forty Under Forty Award Ticketmaster 2002, 2003[18]
Business Insider's The Silicon Valley 100 Award Playdom 2010[19]
TechCrunch's The TechFellow Awards Nominee Playdom 2010[20]
NEA's Award for Outstanding Leadership Disney 2011

References[edit]

  1. ^ "John Pleasants: Executive Profile & Biography." Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, n.d. Web. 15 Aug. 2015.
  2. ^ "Alumni Directory." Yale Alumni Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Aug. 2015.
  3. ^ "John Pleasants: Executive Profile & Biography." Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, n.d. Web. 15 Aug. 2015.
  4. ^ "HBS Alumni Resources." Harvard Business School. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Aug. 2015.
  5. ^ Ault, Susanne. "The Last Word - A Q&A With John Pleasants." Billboard 1 Nov. 2003: 100. Google Books. Web. 15 Aug. 2015.
  6. ^ "Ticketmaster Online-Citysearch and Ticketmaster Corporation Close Transaction; Combined Companies Are Renamed Ticketmaster." News Release. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Aug. 2015.
  7. ^ "Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch Names Charles Conn Chairman of the Board; John Pleasants Becomes Chief Executive Officer." PR Newswire. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Aug. 2015.
  8. ^ Shin, Annys. "Revolution Invests in Convenient Care." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 06 Oct. 2005. Web. 15 Aug. 2015.
  9. ^ Sridharan, Vasanth. "Electronic Arts Names Pleasants COO." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 17 Mar. 2008. Web. 15 Aug. 2015.
  10. ^ Evangelho, Jason. "Disney Infinity: A Revealing Interview with John Pleasants of Disney Interactive." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 17 Jan. 2013. Web. 15 Aug. 2015.
  11. ^ Miller, Daniel. "Disney Interactive Co-President John Pleasants Resigns." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 11 Nov. 2013. Web. 15 Aug. 2015.
  12. ^ "John Pleasants: Executive Profile & Biography." Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, n.d. Web. 15 Aug. 2015.
  13. ^ "Samsung Announces New Executive Appointments Across Strategic Growth Areas." Business Wire. N.p., 10 June 2014. Web. 15 Aug. 2015.
  14. ^ Cheng, Jonathan. "Samsung Plucks Execs From BlackBerry, Disney, Nokia." Digits RSS. N.p., 11 June 2014. Web. 15 Aug. 2015.
  15. ^ Wolf, Michael. "What Do We Know About Stealth Smart Kitchen Startup Brava? | The Spoon". thespoon.tech. Retrieved 2017-02-20.
  16. ^ Business Wire "[1]"
  17. ^ Connie Loizos "[2]"
  18. ^ "Forty Under 40: Past Winners." SportsBusiness Daily. N.p., 12 Mar. 2012. Web. 15 Aug. 2015.
  19. ^ Sai. "THE SILICON VALLEY 100." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 08 Dec. 2010. Web. 15 Aug. 2015.
  20. ^ Arrington, Michael. "Nominate Outstanding Innovators Now For The 2010 TechFellow Awards." TechCrunch. N.p., 24 Nov. 2010. Web. 15 Aug. 2015.
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