James Pitaro is an American media executive and attorney. On March 5, 2018,

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

announced he would become president of

ESPN Inc. ESPN Inc. is an American multinational sports media conglomerate majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Hearst Communications as an equity stakeholder. For management and financial reporting purposes, the company is the main entity wit ...

Pitaro graduated in 1987 from

Edgemont High School Edgemont may refer to: Places Canada *Edgemont, Calgary, a large suburban neighbourhood in Calgary, Alberta *Edgemont, Edmonton, a neighbourhood in Edmonton, Alberta * Calgary-Edgemont, a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada United State ...

in Scarsdale,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. In 1991, Pitaro graduated from Cornell's College of Human Ecology with a Bachelor of Science degree in Consumer Economics And Housing. He was a player on the

Cornell Big Red football The Cornell Big Red football team represents Cornell University in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) college football competition as a member of the Ivy League. It is one of the ol ...

team. He earned his Juris Doctor from St. John's University Law School in 1994. He previously worked for

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. (2017–present), Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds ma ...

's Media division,

Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker, (known as Wilson Elser), is a law firm with over 1,000 attorneys in 41 offices throughout the United States and one in London. History The predecessor firm to what is known today as Wilson Elser start ...

and

Disney Interactive Disney Interactive is an American video game and internet company that oversaw various websites and interactive media owned by The Walt Disney Company. History 1995–1996: Formation and beginnings In December 1994, Disney announced that it wa ...

.James Pitaro '91 Named President of Sports Media Giant ESPN
By Raphy Gendler and Zachary Silver for the ''

Cornell Daily Sun ''The Cornell Daily Sun'' is an independent daily newspaper published in Ithaca, New York by students at Cornell University and hired employees. ''The Sun'' features coverage of the university and its environs as well as stories from the Associa ...

'' Since 1997, he has been married to actress

Jean Louisa Kelly Jean Louisa Kelly (born March 9, 1972) is an American actress and singer. After making her film debut as Tia Russell in '' Uncle Buck'' (1989) alongside John Candy, she appeared in a wide range of other films including '' The Fantasticks'' (1 ...

. On October 12, 2020, his position changed to Chairman, ESPN and Sports Content.

References

Living people Cornell Big Red football players Presidents of ESPN St. John's University School of Law alumni American business executives Cornell University College of Human Ecology alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Edgemont Junior – Senior High School alumni {{US-business-bio-stub