Sovrn Hires Vox Media’s Chris George as President

Digital publishing industry veteran to lead company’s next stage of strategic growth

Sovrn, a publisher technology platform that helps content creators remain independent and thrive on the open web, today announced that Chris George has joined the company’s leadership team as President. George, most recently the Chief Operating Officer at Vox Media, has more than two decades of leadership experience in the digital publishing industry managing strategy and revenue generation across marketing, sales, product and business operations.

George brings a wealth of experience to his remit of leading Sovrn’s commercial team, having helped shape pioneering brands such as The Verge, The Dodo, New York Magazine and PopSugar into category leaders. His proficiency in multiple sources of publisher revenue — including advertising, commerce affiliate, subscription and licensing — spans digital media, social media platforms, advertising products and analytics, and media buying for both startups and established companies.

In his new role, George will partner with CEO Walter Knapp and the executive leadership team to set direction for the commercial organization to amplify and drive greater uptake of its robust yet simple publisher platform, and to build and bring to market solutions that surpass competing alternatives.

“I am thrilled that Chris is joining the Sovrn team,” said Knapp. “His deep understanding of the pain points publishers face today will bring a sharp focus onto our goal of continuing to deliver solutions that help our customers grow and thrive in a very challenging environment.”

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Prior to his tenure at Vox Media, George was the Chief Operating Officer at Group Nine Media (acquired by Vox Media in February 2022), where he led business operations, product development and audience growth for Group Nine’s portfolio of brands. George also served as the executive sponsor of the employee resource group dedicated to supporting Black employees at Vox Media and Group Nine Media. Previously, George was EVP of product marketing and sales strategy for PopSugar, where he brought to market several notable product launches, including The Bakery, its full-service creative shop; TrendRank, a predictive marketing tool; and Sparkle, a mobile commerce product. He has also held management positions at SpinMedia, Fox Interactive Media and Foote Cone Belding where he led accounts such as Hewlett-Packard, SEGA and LucasArts into the emerging world of digital marketing. George holds an advertising degree from Michigan State University.

“I’m passionate about Sovrn’s mission to help publishers thrive on the open web,” said George. “Sovrn has the unique ability to take on the heavy lifting required for a publisher to operate a diversified business, so they can focus on high quality storytelling. I’m excited to bring my experience to help the company continue to deliver must-have products that solve many of the challenges publishers face today across advertising, commerce and data.”

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