Ross Levinsohn is the son of a newspaper reporter and lives out in California. He’s not a famous person and has stayed out of the spotlight for the most part. In 2009, he was picked as editor-in-chief of Yahoo News, replacing David Karp, who had been in this position for over five years.
Mr. Levinsohn had helped develop financial websites before joining Yahoo, such as Credit Suisse First Boston, and has a strong background in business reporting in print media. He also graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with an MBA from its prestigious Tepper School of Business, where he was heavily involved with community volunteerism and leadership programs for international students.
He has been credited with turning Yahoo News around to become profitable. He was eventually fired after a protracted and nasty legal battle with the company’s co-founder, the billionaire media mogul Terry Semel.
In 2011, Mr. Levinsohn joined Google, taking the position of President for news and operations. He was later named the CEO of YouTube in July 2013, replacing Salar Kamangar, who had been at the company for three years.
Before becoming Sports Illustrated CEO of Google, Mr. Levinsohn was the CFO of the company. Still, it was announced in October 2016 that he would be stepping down from his executive role. He is reported to have been on poor terms with Google’s leadership team after reporting on YouTube’s dismal second quarter and failing to realize any profits from it.
In December 2016, Ross left Google following sexual harassment claims and charges by employees. Details can be read here on what happened with accusations against him.
In 2017, he was appointed as the Sports Illustrated CEO of Yahoo-AOL. It was announced on March 9, 2017, and it was also announced that he had been given a two-year contract with the company. It is reported that $10 million has been guaranteed to Mr. Levinsohn over this period by Yahoo!
While at the company, Mr. Levinsohn is said to have met with hundreds of employees to discuss how they can ensure their businesses become profitable. It is also thought that he will merge AOL and Yahoo to create one business unit.