On Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2017, Rich Boehne stepped aside as CEO of The E.W. Scripps Co., yielding the position to Adam Symson.
However, he retained a role on the company’s board of directors, serving as Chairman.
Now, Boehne is fully set to retire when his term expires.
Boehne has notified the Scripps board that he’ll step down as Chairman effective May 3.
This puts the wheels in motion to give the Chair to Kim Williams.
She’s been a board director since 2008 and has served as the Scripps board’s independent lead director, elected by public Class A shareholders, since 2018. Williams is also the Chair of Scripps’ audit committee and a member of the executive and nominating and governance committees.
“Since she joined the Scripps board, Kim has contributed to the company in so many ways, through her wealth of board experience, deep financial expertise and an innate sense of corporate stewardship – all of which has helped Scripps continue to capitalize on the changing media landscape,” Symson said. “I look forward to her leadership as we set our course as a full-scale television company.”
Williams is a financial expert with more than 25 years of investment management experience. This includes a role as SVP and Associate director of Global Industry Research at Wellington Management Co.
GOODBYE FROM BOEHNE
Boehne leaves a long legacy of stewardship over the company, having had a hand in driving much of the company’s evolution and value creation over decades.
A director for 13 years and Chairman of the Board for eight, Boehne, 64, served as Scripps’ President/CEO from 2008 to 2017.
He became CEO and joined the board in 2008 when Scripps Networks Interactive was spun off into a separate publicly traded company with its cable network assets, including HGTV and Food Network. Prior to the split, Boehne was COO of the combined company.
“Rich has left a lasting imprint on our businesses and culture, from his belief in the journalist’s role in bringing light to the world’s injustice to the entrepreneurial mindset he instilled in his team and that remains core to who we are today,” said Symson. “Rich’s leadership for over 30 years has been invaluable to our company’s success, and we wish him well as he steps away to pursue other interests and opportunities.”
A 1981 graduate of Northern Kentucky University, Boehne joined the corporate staff in early 1988 to help the company prepare for its initial public offering of stock. Before moving to Scripps headquarters, he was a business reporter and editor at the now-shuttered Cincinnati Post, where he covered Wall Street, the national economy and developments in the media industry.
