Eric Hippeau is a partner at Lerer Hippeau Ventures in New York City.

Early life and education

Hippeau graduated from the Lycee Francais de Londres and attended the

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University (french: Sorbonne Université; la Sorbonne: 'the Sorbonne') is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon ...

in Paris.

Career

Hippeau joined

Ziff-Davis Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. First founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology-oriented media websites, online shopping-related services, and ...

in 1989 as publisher of ''

PC Magazine ''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and have continued to the present d ...

''. He became president in 1991 and chairman and CEO in 1993. In 1995, SoftBank acquired

, and Hippeau continued in the role of CEO until 2000, when the company was sold. Hippeau joined

SoftBank Capital SoftBank Capital is a venture capital group in the United States, focusing on technology and telecom early stage businesses. It was founded by SoftBank. Since 2015 it does not actively make investments, but it continues to oversee its prior portfo ...

in 2000 from

, Inc., where he was chairman and CEO. Hippeau was managing partner at

. Hippeau was President of SoftBank International Ventures, where he established SoftBank's international private equity funds and expanded them into Europe, Latin America and Asia. He was also SB Capital's board representative for its direct investments in companies, such as

Yahoo! Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Man ...

Geocities Yahoo! GeoCities was a web hosting service that allowed users to create and publish websites for free and to browse user-created websites by their theme or interest. GeoCities was started in November 1994 by David Bohnett and John Rezner, and w ...

and

CNET ''CNET'' (short for "Computer Network") is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. ''CNET'' originally produced content for radio and televi ...

. Hippeau was also responsible for founding

ZDTV TechTV is a defunct 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in San Francisco featuring news and shows about computers, technology, and the Internet. In 2004, it merged with the G4 gaming channel which ultimately dissolved TechTV programming ...

, a cable channel dedicated to technology and the Internet. Hippeau was the CEO of

HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

which he joined in June 2009, after investing through

and taking a board seat in 2006. Hippeau joined HuffPost in June 2009. Hippeau is a co-founder of

NowThis News NowThis News is a progressive social media-focused news organization founded in 2012. The company posts short (in most cases 15 seconds long) news videos and hyperpartisan content. History NowThis News was founded by ''Huffington Post'' co-fo ...

. In 2011, Hippeau became a partner at Lerer Hippeau Ventures in New York City.

Boards and committees

Hippeau serves on the boards of several public and private companies including Resorts Worldwide, BuddyMedia, and

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ken ...

. He served on

's board of directors . He is also on the investment committee for the SB Asia Infrastructure Fund.

Personal life

Hippeau lives in New York City with his wife, Barbara; they have four children and two grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hippeau, Eric Living people Directors of Yahoo! American corporate directors American chief executives of financial services companies Angel investors American chairpersons of corporations American publishing chief executives SoftBank people Place of birth missing (living people) 1951 births