Leo J. Hindery Jr. is a serial entrepreneur, fund manager, former public-company chairman and CEO, author, political activist and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

. Mr. Hindery served as chairman and CEO of Trine Acquisition Corp., a NYSE-listed SPAC which went public in March 2019 and went effective with its merger with Desktop Metal, Inc. (NYSE: DM) in early 2021, and of a follow-on NYSE-listed SPAC under the Trine name that went public in the third quarter of 2021 and returned funds to its public investors in the second quarter of 2023. In 1988, Hindery founded and ran as managing partner

InterMedia Partners InterMedia Advisors, LLC (a..k.a. InterMedia Partners), is a private equity investment firm focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments in the mass media, media sector. The firm, which was founded in 1992 by notable private equity ...

, a series of media industry investment funds. In November 1999, Hindery was named chairman and CEO of GlobalCenter Inc., a major Internet services company which fourteen months later merged into Exodus Communications, Inc. Following this merger, until October 2004, he was the founding chairman and CEO of The YES Network the regional television home of the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

, after which he reconstituted and ran InterMedia Partners until the founding of Trine. In February 1997 he was named president and CEO of Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI), then the world's largest cable television system operator. In March 1999, TCI merged into

AT&T Corporation AT&T Corporation, an abbreviation for its former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, was an American telecommunications company that provided voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to busi ...

and Hindery became president and CEO of

AT&T Broadband AT&T Broadband LLC was an American digital cable television and telecommunications provider that served as the cable operations division of AT&T. It was founded in March 1999 when AT&T acquired the assets of TCI and renamed it to AT&T Broadband. ...

. He is a member of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...

, and from 2003 through December 2007 was Senate-appointed vice chair of the HELP Commission formed by an

Act of Congress An act of Congress is a statute enacted by the United States Congress. Acts may apply only to individual entities (called Public and private bills, private laws), or to the general public (Public and private bills, public laws). For a Bill (law) ...

to improve U.S. foreign assistance. He is a member of the Hall of Fame of the Minority Media & Telecommunications Council, co-chair of the Task Force on Jobs Creation and was the founder of Jobs First 2012. He is a director of Hemisphere Media Group, Inc. Hindery is a member of the Cable Industry Hall of Fame, was formerly chairman of the National Cable Television Association and of

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

, and has been recognized as one of the cable industry's "25 Most Influential Executives Over the Past 25 Years". He was co-founder along with Russian Federation Council Chairman Sergey Mironov of Transatlantic Partners Against AIDS (TPAA) and recipient of the Asia Society's Founders Award for his efforts in the international fight against AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. From 2005 through 2007, Hindery was Democrat-appointed vice chair of the Presidential & Congressional HELP Commission which made recommendations to Congress for the reform of U.S. foreign assistance. Hindery has written two books: ''It Takes a CEO: It’s Time to Lead with Integrity'' and ''The Biggest Game of All.'' Hindery now lives in Cornelius, North Carolina. He has an MBA from the

Stanford Graduate School of Business The Stanford Graduate School of Business is the Postgraduate education, graduate business school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. For several years it has been the most selective ...

, and a BA from

Seattle University Seattle University (Seattle U or SU) is a private Jesuit university in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest independent university in the Northwestern United States, with over 7,500 students enrolled in undergraduate and grad ...

Politics

* In 2004, his name was floated as a possible successor to

Terry McAuliffe Terence Richard McAuliffe (born February 9, 1957) is an American businessman and politician who served as the List of governors of Virginia, 72nd governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat ...

as head of the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...

. * Hindery served as Senior Economic Policy Advisor for presidential candidate

John Edwards Johnny Reid Edwards (born June 10, 1953) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented North Carolina in the United States Senate from 1999 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the vice presidential nominee under ...

from December 2006 until February 2008. In 2008 Hindery was an economic and trade advisor to then-presidential candidate

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

, and in 2012 served as an economic policy surrogate for President Obama. On the withdrawal of Bill Richardson as nominee for

Secretary of Commerce The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...

on January 4, 2009, it was suggested that he might be a suitable replacement. * Hindery endorsed Democratic candidate

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Motorsport

Hindery was the chairman of ''Port Imperial Racing Associates'', the organizer of the proposed Grand Prix of America

Formula 1 Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

race to be held at the Port Imperial Street Circuit in New Jersey, United States. The race was included in the Formula 1 calendar for

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

but was ultimately cancelled due to a lack of funding. A now-retired race car driver, Hindery's racing résumé includes a Class win at the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

(24 Heures du Mans) in 2005 and a Class second-place finish in 2003. He is a member of the NASCAR Winston West Hall of Fame.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Awards

*He was inducted in the

West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame The West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall Of Fame, originally the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame, is a Hall of Fame for people associated primarily with late-model stock car racing on the West Coast of the United States. Many NASCAR Grand Nation ...

in 2021.

Books

* ''It Takes a CEO'' * ''The Biggest Game of All'' .

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hindery, Leo American telecommunications industry businesspeople American male writers Living people Private equity and venture capital investors 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 1947 births 24 Hours of Daytona drivers American Le Mans Series drivers NASCAR drivers