Ross Levinsohn is one of those people who has been around the block a few times and left others wondering how he did it. He got his start immediately after graduating from American University in 1985. With a bachelor’s degree in broadcast communications, he co-founded a production firm that he and his co-founder called Ross Productions. It did well, but after about four years, he decided to move on. He took a job with HBO’s Time Warner Sports outlet and worked as a production manager.
After working a few years at HBO, Ross Levinsohn moved on to CBS’s SportsLine, where he produced a recorded show about the NFL. The internet age arrived in the 1990s, and Levinsohn wanted to be right in the middle of it. To that end, he worked at Alta Vista and later Compaq. He also founded a few production and media firms of his own. Some of them were bought by bigger firms, and others transformed after he left and sold his shares.
In the 2000s, Levinsohn became the General Manager at Fox Sports Interactive Media. He went on to serve as the CEO of Fox Interactive Media, where he honed his leadership skills. In 2010, Levinsohn was hired to work as the Senior Vice President at Americas for Yahoo. In 2012, he was selected to be the interim CEO of Yahoo.
Later in the 2010s, Levinsohn founded Scout Media. After leaving that organization, he served as the President of the Los Angeles Times newspaper, which also operates a website. In 2019, Levinsohn joined Maven. He was initially brought on to lead their Sports Illustrated Media. The well-known Sports Illustrated magazine is most famous for its annual swimsuit issue featuring beautiful women. Most recently, it featured a Tran’s woman. At Sports Illustrated Media, Levinsohn was tasked with expanding the vertical reach and branding of the publication.
In February 2021, Ross Levinsohn became the CEO of Maven. His fast rise at Maven can be attributed to his skills at bringing new perspectives and fresh content to the printed and online publications of Sports Illustrated and growing the brand.