Founder, Chair, Chief Executive, Penske Media Corp.
Penske’s dealmaking enlarged what was a publishing boutique to a sizeable privately owned multimedia conglomerate. The company now has an audience of more than 300 million people globally. In the past two years, Penske engineered acquisitions of “Artforum” magazine, fan-oriented producer ATX TV and a large stake in big digital-media publisher Vox Media. He also launched the two-day Los Angeles festival LA3C and various data services in 2022 including Variety Film Chatter Chart powered by X which tracks the week’s top five trending titles in the world of film and the most buzzed about movies based on engagement on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.. The Westside-based media conglomerate includes Variety, Rolling Stone, The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, Deadline.com, Fairchild Media, Vibe, awards show juggernaut Dick Clark Productions, and 50% of sprawling Texas-based cultural festival South by Southwest. Penske is the son of the famed race car driver/businessman Roger Penske. Last year, the company announced plans to move its offices to the Lumen West LA development. Penske Media will occupy seven floors at the property, making it Lumen’s largest tenant. The property will also have a ground-floor screening room, on-site production facilities and music and podcast studios.
YEARS ON LA500: 8
