Meg Whitman has been appointed CEO of Jeffrey Katzenberg’s new mobile media startup NewTV.
The former Hewlett Packard Enterprise and eBay CEO will be based in Los Angeles once she starts the job on March 1, NewTV announced Wednesday.
NewTV is part of Katzenberg’s WndrCo holding company, which was created in 2017 to invest in and develop startups that are focused on digital media. Katzenberg formed WndrCo after leaving the entertainment giant DreamWorks, which he co-founded in the mid-1990s with film director Steven Spielberg and music mogul David Geffen.
“Meg is one of the most accomplished and sought-after executives of our time. She has built and scaled some of the most important global companies today,” Katzenberg said in a statement. “Her leadership, operational expertise, and deep understanding of technology and consumer behavior will be invaluable in creating the future of mobile entertainment.”
Whitman spent the last few years running data center technology giant Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), where she split HPE from its personal computer and printing sibling HP Inc. (HPQ) in 2015 as a way to create two smaller, more nimble businesses.
It’s unclear what exactly NewTV will be working on. The company said that it would “bring the highest quality Hollywood production values and storytelling to mobile, in bite-sized formats of 10 minutes or less.”
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Whitman, a former Republican gubernatorial candidate in California, declined to talk about NewTV’s business plans in an interview with Variety, only to say that the company is “in the process of fundraising right now so I can’t talk about it.”
“But we’re going to be recruiting the very best talent, and in a few more months we’ll have to more to say on this,” Whitman said.
Last summer, Whitman was reported to be considering a CEO position at the embattled ride-sharing startup Uber, but the job went to former Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.
Whitman’s new role at NewTV also, for the time being, ends speculation that she was considering a return to politics.
Well maybe no Whitman 2020, but looks like @MegWhitman has found the next act she was looking for: https://t.co/fYnzpHQSEp https://t.co/3lyucS20CJ
— Jen Wieczner (@jenwieczner) January 24, 2018
