Philippe von Borries is a German-born entrepreneur. He co-founded

Refinery29 Refinery29 (R29) is an American multinational digital media and entertainment website focused on young women. It is owned by Vice Media. History Justin Stefano, Philippe von Borries, Piera Gelardi, and Christene Barberich co-founded Refinery29 i ...

and served as co-CEO of the company. He is currently entrepreneur-in-residence of

Red Ventures Red Ventures is an American media company, which owns and operates brands such as Lonely Planet, CNET, ZDNet, The Points Guy, Healthline and Bankrate. Red Ventures focuses on sites that dispense news, advice, and reviews. The company's corporat ...

and president of

Lonely Planet Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books. History Early years Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 1972, they embarked ...

Biography

von Borries was born in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He graduated from

Concord Academy Concord Academy (also known as CA), established in 1922, is a coeducational, independent college preparatory school for boarding and day students in grades 9-12. The school is situated in Concord, Massachusetts. In 1971, Concord Academy became t ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, and received his bachelor's degree in history from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. He attended high school with

Grizzly Bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...

singer

Ed Droste Edward Droste (born October 22, 1978) is an American singer-songwriter and musician, formerly of the rock band Grizzly Bear. The group began as the solo effort of Droste with the release of 2004's '' Horn of Plenty'', originally released on Kan ...

. Upon graduating from Columbia, he moved to Washington, D.C., to join ''

the Globalist ''The Globalist'' is a daily online magazine that "focuses on the economics, politics and culture"The Globalist: About Us ...

'', an online international affairs magazine that focuses on the economics, politics and culture of globalization. In 2005, von Borries co-founded Refinery29 with his high school friend Justin Stefano, his wife Piera Gelardi and Christene Barberich as a localized New York platform for discovering independent boutiques and shops. The company later evolved to include digital media and e-commerce features. The company raised around $130 million from investors including

First Round Capital First Round is a venture capital firm that specializes in providing seed-stage funding to technology companies. Founded by Josh Kopelman Joshua Kopelman is an American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and philanthropist. Kopelman is best ...

Floodgate Fund Floodgate Fund is a venture capital firm based in the United States created by Mike Maples Jr. and Ann Miura-Ko. It was originally named ''Maples Investments,'' but was renamed ''Floodgate Fund'' in March 2010. It is focused on investments in tech ...

Stripes Group Stripes (Stripes, LLC) is a private equity and venture capital firm based in Manhattan, New York, founded in 2008.

WPP plc WPP plc is a British multinational communications, advertising, public relations, technology, and commerce holding company headquartered in London, England. It was the world's largest advertising company, as of 2019. WPP plc owns many compan ...

, Scripps Networks Interactive, and

Hearst Communications Hearst Communications, Inc., often referred to simply as Hearst, is an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Hearst owns newspapers, magazines, televi ...

. von Borries was named one of the "Silicon Alley 100" in 2013 and 2015 by

Business Insider ''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publ ...

and named to the 2016 New Power New York List by ''Variety'' magazine. In 2018,

laid off ten percent of its workforce.

Vice Media sale

von Borries stepped down from a

management role in 2019 after

Vice Media Vice Media Group LLC is an American-Canadian digital media and broadcasting company. , the Vice Media Group included five main business areas: VICE.com (digital content); VICE STUDIOS (film and TV production) VICE TV (also known as VICELAND); V ...

's acquisition of

for a reported $460 million. His wife, Piera Gelardi, continued as

's executive creative director. von Borries later joined

in November 2020 and became the head of

. In 2022, Lonely Planet bought Elsewhere, a website that links travelers directly with experts who assist in designing trips. In 2020, von Borries wrote a letter with

cofounder Justin Stefano apologizing to the company's Black and employees of color for tokenizing staff and making them feel that they didn't belong.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:von Borries, Phillippe Living people Year of birth missing (living people) German company founders German businesspeople Concord Academy alumni Columbia University alumni Red Ventures German chief executives Businesspeople from Cologne