Jim Bankoff

James Philip Bankoff (born December 23, 1969) is an American businessman who is the co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer (CEO) of Vox Media. He previously worked for AOL and joined Vox Media's predecessor, SB Nation, in 2009.

Jim Bankoff
Bankoff in July 2018
Born
James Philip Bankoff

(1969-12-23) December 23, 1969
CitizenshipAmerican
Education
Occupation(s)Chairman and CEO of Vox Media
EmployerVox Media
Spouse
Diane Elson
​
(m. 2003)​
Parents
  • Marvin Bankoff (father)
  • Adrienne Bankoff (mother)

Early life and education

James Philip Bankoff was born to Marvin and Adrienne Bankoff on December 23, 1969, and raised in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.[1][2][3] His father owned a jewelry business and his mother worked as an editor.[3] Bankoff developed an interest in media at an early age.[4][5] He obtained a bachelor's degree in international studies from Emory University.[2] During his senior year, he interned at CNN.[6] Bankoff earned his Master of Business Administration degree at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.[7]

Career

Early career and AOL

Bankoff initially worked as a production assistant for the WETA-TV series Washington Week.[5] He also worked at Ruder Finn's Global Public Affairs group, where he became an account supervisor in 1991.[8][9] After graduating from Wharton, he declined job offers from The New York Times, The Walt Disney Company, and a record company to join AOL in 1995.[5][6] In various roles, he worked on projects including AIM,[10] AOL.com,[11] AOL Music, FanHouse,[4] MapQuest, Moviefone, and Netscape.[3][7] He focused on the company's digital content business,[12] helped the company acquire Engadget,[3][7][13] and was involved in the creation of TMZ.[14][15]

Bankoff became director of business development for AOL Greenhouse in 1996.[9] He was named vice-president of strategy and operations for the AOL brand in 1998,[9] and oversaw business strategy, category management, and content acquisition. He also directed AOL Music and AOL Plus.[8] Following the merger of AOL and Netscape, Bankoff became president of Netscape in 2001.[16] He was responsible for business operations and the growth of Netscape.com and Netbusiness.[8][17] He then served as president of AOL Web Properties,[18][19] managing AIM, CompuServe, ICQ, MapQuest, Moviefone, and Netscape.[9][20]

Bankoff held the role of executive vice-president of programming and products from 2002.[9][12][21] Bankoff left AOL in late 2006,[3][7] working as a consultant for The Huffington Post and SB Nation, starting in 2008.[12]

SB Nation and Vox Media
Main article: Vox Media

As an angel investor for SB Nation, Bankoff led the company's first round of financing. He became its chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) in January 2009.[7][12] He expanded SB Nation's network and number of writers.[22] In November 2011, Bankoff co-founded Vox Media as the parent company for SB Nation and The Verge.[23] As Vox Media's chairman and CEO, Bankoff pursued growing the company through acquisitions.[13] He oversees the company's media brands.[2][24]

Accolades

In 2015, Bankoff was included in Washingtonian's list of the "100 Top Tech Leaders" in Washington, D.C.,[25] and ranked number 18 on Business Insider's "Silicon Alley 100" list of the "coolest, most inspiring people in the New York tech industry".[26] He was also included in The Hollywood Reporter's list of "The 35 Most Powerful People in New York Media" in 2016.[27] Bankoff ranked number 67 on Mediaite's list of the most influential figures in media in 2017.[28]

Personal life

Bankoff and Diane Elson, who founded the rug design company Elson&Company in 1998, married on April 26, 2003.[1] Bankoff is a fan of the New York Yankees.[3]

References
  1. "Weddings/Celebrations; Diane Elson, James Bankoff". The New York Times. April 27, 2003. ISSN 0362-4331. OCLC 1645522. Archived from the original on February 26, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  2. Martin, Rachel; Levine, Cecilia (December 23, 2016). "Happy Birthday to Upper Saddle River's Jim Bankoff". Northern Highlands Daily Voice. Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  3. Heath, Thomas (December 7, 2014). "As investments roll in, Vox Media's Bankoff tries to keep creativity alive". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 2269358. Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  4. Solomon, Brian (December 6, 2012). "Meet Vox Media: The Digital Upstart That Wants to Be Conde Nast 2.0". Forbes. ISSN 0015-6914. Archived from the original on December 9, 2012. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  5. Farhi, Paul (April 7, 2014). "Vox Media ventures into general news and news analysis with Vox.com". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 13, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  6. Krueger, Alyson (June 23, 2015). "Bankoff's Time". The Pennsylvania Gazette. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  7. Bond, Shannon (October 22, 2017). "Jim Bankoff, Vox Media CEO, on moving into TV". Financial Times. ISSN 0307-1766. Archived from the original on September 21, 2019. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  8. Barnes, Cecily (January 18, 2001). "Bankoff named Netscape president". ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 22, 2014. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
  9. Garrity, Brian (November 6, 2004). "AOL Is Increasingly Seen as a Launch Pad for Original Content". Billboard. Vol. 116, no. 45. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
  10. Sloane, Garett (October 6, 2017). "Twitter Eulogizes AIM as App Sounds Death Knell". Advertising Age. Archived from the original on March 7, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  11. "Jim Bankoff's Vox Media nears $40 million funding target". Reuters. October 15, 2013. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
  12. Lincoln, Kevin (January 9, 2012). "The Raid on AOL: How Vox Pillaged Engadget and Founded an Empire". Business Insider. Axel Springer SE. Archived from the original on May 13, 2013. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  13. "PubTech Connect: Meet Internet Visionary Jim Bankoff, CEO of Vox Media and Keynote Speaker". Publishers Weekly. February 8, 2017. ISSN 0000-0019. Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  14. Eldon, Eric (April 25, 2013). "Vox Media's Jim Bankoff to Talk the Business of High-Quality Media at Disrupt NY". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  15. Shontell, Alyson (March 13, 2014). "VOX CEO: Here's How We're Able To Get Tons Of Traffic Without Gaming Facebook". Business Insider. Archived from the original on July 13, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  16. Pain, Steve (June 12, 2001). "E-Business: Netscape Media Hub Makeover". Birmingham Post. Trinity Mirror. ISSN 0963-7915. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  17. "Housing Starts Fall for Year". The Washington Post. January 19, 2001. Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  18. Klein, Alec (August 22, 2001). "Netscape's New Mission; Web Pioneer Promotes Parent AOL Time Warner's Products". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  19. Pain, Steve (August 23, 2001). "AOL to axe 1,2000 after Internet ad slowdown". Birmingham Post. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  20. Klein, Alec; Joyce, Amy (August 22, 2001). "AOL to Lay Off 1,700 More Workers; About 425 Jobs in Va. Affected; Internet Unit To Trim Workforce 10%". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  21. Steigrad, Alexandra (October 17, 2015). "Media People: Vox Media's Jim Bankoff". Women's Wear Daily. ISSN 0043-7581. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  22. Kramer, Staci D. (April 4, 2011). "SB Nation Wins Tech Publishing Fantasy Draft; Signs Engadget Team". Gigaom. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
  23. "Consumer groups fight database lawsuit". The Washington Post. November 1, 2011. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  24. Braiker, Brian (September 30, 2017). "Introducing Ad Lib, a New Podcast from Ad Age. First Up: Vox Media's Jim Bankoff". Advertising Age. Archived from the original on February 2, 2018. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  25. Gaynor, Michael J. (May 4, 2015). "Washington's 100 Top Tech Leaders". Washingtonian. ISSN 0043-0897. Archived from the original on December 2, 2017. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  26. Stanger, Melissa; Martin, Emmie; Kosoff, Maya (October 8, 2015). "Silicon Alley 100: 1–100". Business Insider. Archived from the original on April 19, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  27. "The 35 Most Powerful People in New York Media". The Hollywood Reporter. April 6, 2016. Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  28. "Most Influential in Media 2017". Mediaite. December 20, 2017. Archived from the original on March 21, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
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