Michael S. Perlis is an American business executive who currently serves as vice chairman and strategic adviser at Forbes Media LLC. He previously worked for

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...

SoftBank is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo which focuses on investment management. The Group primarily invests in companies operating in technology, energy, and financial sectors. It also runs the Vi ...

Capital, and

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, an ...

. Perlis served as CEO of Forbes from December 2010 until October 2017, when he became vice chairman and strategic adviser.

Education

Perlis attended

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

, graduating in 1976 with a BA in communications. He currently serves on the Board of Advisors of Syracuse's

Newhouse School of Public Communications The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, commonly known as Newhouse School, is the communications and journalism school of Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY. It has programs in print and broadcast journalism; music business; graphic ...

Career

Perlis began his career in media in Camden, Maine as co-founder of New England Publications. He later worked as publisher for International Data Group before moving on to Rodale Press in

Emmaus, Pennsylvania Emmaus ( ) is a borough in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 11,652. Emmaus is located in the Lehigh Valley, the third largest metropolitan area in Pennsylvania and 68th largest metropolitan area in t ...

to serves as publisher of

Runner's World ''Runner's World'' is a globally circulated monthly magazine for runners of all skills sets, published by Hearst in Easton, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Before its acquisition by Hearst, it was founded and published by Rodale, Inc. in Em ...

, Bicycling, Active Sports Network, and other magazines. In September 1985, Rodale Press named Perlis as publisher of Runner's World magazine, a globally circulated monthly magazine for runners published by Rodale Press. After Rodale Press acquired the George A. Hirsch magazine ''Runner'' from

CBS Magazines Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc. (HFM U.S.), originally known as CBS Publications, was a subsidiary of Hachette Filipacchi Médias (one of the world's largest magazine publishers), and was based in New York City. History It was formed in 19 ...

in January 1987 and merged it into Runner's World magazine, Perlis was replaced as publisher of Runner's World magazine by Hirsch. In 1989, Perlis left Rodale to work for Playboy Publishing Group. Succeeding

Hugh Hefner Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles which provoked charges of obsc ...

as publisher, Perlis was responsible for all publishing and related product activity worldwide, helping launch the companies' new media initiative that included playboy.com. From 1996-1998 he served as President and Chief Operating Officer at TVSM before accepting a role as President and Chief Executive Officer of Ziff Davis Media Inc. Perlis' transition to the

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which h ...

industry came in 2000, when he accepted a role as partner of

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 ...

, a Massachusetts-based technology and telecom focused group. He returned to the media industry in late 2010, accepting the President and CEO role at Forbes Media. At Forbes, Perlis has focused on the brand's digital footprint, overseeing the magazine's digital growth to over 30 million unique users a month. As of 2020, he is on the board of directors of magazine publishers

Conde Nast Conde may refer to: Places United States * Conde, South Dakota, a city France * Condé-sur-l'Escaut (or simply 'Condé'), a commune Linguistic ''Conde'' is the Ibero-Romance form of "count" (Latin ''comitatus''). It may refer to: * Count ...

. He serves as a board member at Hart Energy, Houston, Texas.

Personal

Perlis lives in Connecticut and Maine and is a trustee of

Outward Bound Outward Bound (OB) is an international network of outdoor education organizations that was founded in the United Kingdom by Lawrence Holt and Kurt Hahn in 1941. Today there are organizations, called schools, in over 35 countries which are att ...

.Outward Bound – 2011 National Benefit Dinner

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perlis, Michael Living people Year of birth missing (living people)