Dick Glover Exits as Funny Or Die CEO to Run Mandalay Sports Media
Dick Glover is stepping as CEO of Funny Or Die after nearly eight years to take over the helm of production company Mandalay Sports Media.
With the move, Funny Or Die chief operating officer Mitch Galbraith will take over day-to-day CEO duties, Glover said in a memo to employees earlier this week.
Glover will become CEO of Mandalay Sports Media, a partnership between Mandalay Entertainment Group, headed by Peter Guber, and producer-director Mike Tollin. Glover, who’s been an MSM board member for the past two years, replaces Rich Battista, who joined Time Inc. this spring as exec VP overseeing People and Entertainment Weekly.
“My first love is sports so I am excited about getting back into that arena (pun intended),” Glover said in the memo to FOD staff.
Tollin, for his part, said in a prepared statement, “Dick’s the dream guy for us. He knows sports and he knows both old and new media. He’s smart, savvy and strategic.”
Prior to his tenure at Funny Or Die, Glover was NASCAR’s VP of broadcasting and new media, where he collaborated with Judd Apatow, Will Ferrell and Adam McKay — which are each partners in FOD — to produce comedy “Talladega Nights. ” He also spent eight years at ESPN, where he oversaw all aspects of domestic programming and launched ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine, and before that WWE.
Glover said he will remain on Funny Or Die’s board, advising and working closely with the senior management team on the company’s growth strategies and implementation, on-going projects and priorities and key business decisions.
Last fall, Funny Or Die retained a financial adviser to evaluate prospective bids for the company. FOD was founded by CAA and Ferrell, McKay and Chris Henchy; Apatow also is a principal partner. The company’s investors include Time Warner and Sequoia Capital.
Mandalay Sports Media, launched in 2012, has received strategic funding from Columbia Capital and Rho Ventures. It has production hubs in Los Angeles and New York City.
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