ESPN President John Skipper is one of the "most powerful individuals in television who runs what may be the most digitally savvy news organization in the world," but his background "is in publishing, his undergraduate degree in English literature, and in graduate school he studied 18th-century satire," according to a profile by Rick Maese of the WASHINGTON POST. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said, "He always has a book with him. He’s the guy when you met him for lunch and everybody else has their head down in their smartphone, he’s the one reading a book." Skipper is a 60-year-old "protagonist in a winding narrative that suddenly has an unpredictable ending." Skipper must "steer ESPN through what may be the most challenging period the mighty sports network has seen since it was launched 37 years ago next week." Skipper has held ESPN’s top post since '12, and his fingerprints "are all over the network." Skipper "prefers to operate in the background." He was not available for this story, and many of his ESPN colleagues interviewed "requested anonymity because they had not been authorized to discuss the network’s boss." He got his start at Rolling Stone as a secretary and "enjoyed a meteoric rise." Former Wenner Media Senior VP & GM Kent Brownridge, whose company publishes Rolling Stone, said, "He was a little bit shy, but he was obviously very smart -- uncommonly smart." Silver: "He never bluffs. He’s always direct, always tells you what he’s thinking."
WORKING MAN: Colleagues describe Skipper as a "relentless worker who’s up every day" at 4:00am to exercise and "doesn’t go to bed until he has responded to every email in his inbox." In meetings, he "listens and asks questions, but usually in an understated way." From time to time, his "Southern charm has taken a backseat, and Skipper has revealed himself to be hard-nosed, unflinching and pragmatic when needed." One example of that came when personality Bill Simmons "tested Skipper one too many times" and was subsequently released. Those who have worked on both sides of the table with Skipper "say there’s no escaping his unconventional background." Though he runs ESPN, that is "not always the focal point of discussions" (WASHINGTON POST, 8/29).
