Richard Rosenblatt
{{Short description|American Entrepreneur}}
{{for|the American ichthyologist|Richard Heinrich Rosenblatt}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Richard Rosenblatt
|image = Richard Rosenblatt.jpg
|birth_name = Richard Marc Rosenblatt
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1969|04|06}}
|birth_place = Woodland Hills, California, U.S.
|occupation = entrepreneur, lawyer
|spouse = Lisa Rosenblatt
|education = University of California, Los Angeles (B.A.)
University of Southern California (J.D.)
}}
Richard Marc Rosenblatt{{Cite web|url=http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/Licensee/Detail/175683|title = Richard Marc Rosenblatt # 175683 - Attorney Licensee Search}} (born April 6, 1969) is an American entrepreneur. He built, operated, and sold over US$3.3 billion of Internet media and content-aggregation companies.Jackson, Ron. [http://www.dnjournal.com/cover/2007/april.htm "His Companies Have Sold for Over $1.3 Billion: Can Demand Media's Richard Rosenblatt Do It Again with Domains?"], DN Journal. Retrieved November 21, 2008. Formerly the chairman and CEO of Demand Media, Rosenblatt left the company on October 14, 2013, and currently serves as founder, chairman and CEO of Whip Media. He is also the co-founder and chairman of Autograph.{{cite news |last1=Melas |first1=Chloe |title=Tom Brady is launching an NFT company |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/06/tech/tom-brady-nft-autograph/index.html |work=CNN |date=April 7, 2021}}
Early life
Rosenblatt was born in Woodland Hills, California, United States,{{cite web|title=Richard Rosenblatt|url=http://www.cracked.com/funny-1402-richard-rosenblatt/|website=Cracked.com|accessdate=September 10, 2013}} and was raised in Southern California by his physicist father, Martin, and mother Jane, who was a Health Sciences professor.{{cite news|title=Resume: Richard Marc Rosenblatt|url=http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2001-09-30/resume-richard-marc-rosenblatt|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120630064532/http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2001-09-30/resume-richard-marc-rosenblatt|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 30, 2012|newspaper=Bloomberg.com|date=October 2001|accessdate=December 10, 2013}} Rosenblatt went on to earn a B.A. from UCLA, and a J.D. from the University of Southern California Law School (class of 1994). After graduating from law school, Rosenblatt took a job at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, in Los Angeles, but quit after six months, citing boredom.Weintraub, Arlene.[https://web.archive.org/web/20011003202219/http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/01_40/b3751619.htm "Can This Man Cure Dr. Koop.com?"], BusinessWeek. October 1, 2001. Retrieved January 8, 2009.Brown, Erika.[https://www.forbes.com/2007/09/26/myspace-online-media-tech-cz_eb_0926demandmedia.html "The Mixologist"], Forbes. September 26, 2007. Retrieved November 18, 2008.
Career
In October 1994, Rosenblatt co-founded iMALL and served as head of internet media and web development. iMALL's products included a suite of tools to build e-commerce stores and transact commerce over the internet.[http://www.allbusiness.com/company-activities-management/financial-performance/6673219-1.html "iMALL Completes Year of Transition, Reports Fourth Quarter Results"], Business Wire (link published by AllBusiness). March 18, 1999. Retrieved November 21, 2008. Rosenblatt replaced one of the founders, Craig Pickering, as CEO in July 1996 and took on the additional role of chairman of the board in January 1997. Rosenblatt oversaw the restructuring and rebuilding of the business. In 1998, iMALL partnered up with First Data Merchant Services (FDMS) in a deal that provided access to roughly 2 million merchants and included a $14 million equity stake in iMALL. In April 1999, Verio, Inc. teamed up with iMALL and First Data to create VerioStore, a product selling e-commerce services.[http://www.bnet.com/2422-13721_23-164950.html?tag=content-inner;col1 "Richard Rosenblatt: How I Sold MySpace"], bnet. Retrieved November 14, 2008.[http://www.articlearchives.com/computing/software-services-applications/443216-1.html "Verio Chooses iMall-First Data To Tam On Web Store"], Computergram International (link published by Article Archives). April 7, 1999. Retrieved November 21, 2008. Later that same year, IBM bought iMALL and First Data's technology for their e-commerce services.Hollander, James.[http://www.technewsworld.com/story/48.html "Red Hot iMall Stock Headed for Nasdaq NMS"], TechNewsWorld. May 19, 1999. Retrieved November 21, 2008. In July 1999, Rosenblatt negotiated the sale of iMALL to Excite@Home for $565 million. In 1999, iMALL and two of its founders were sued by the Federal Trade Commission, though Rosenblatt was not among those named in the suit.Menn, Joseph.[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-jul-16-fi-demand16-story.html “Champion of the Obscure”], Los Angeles Times. July 16, 2008. Retrieved December 11, 2008. Rosenblatt became the Sr. VP of e-commerce for Excite@Home for a short period of time.[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0CGN/is_/ai_55154684 “Excite@Home Buys iMall, Makes Deal With First Data”], Computergram International (linked by bnet). July 14, 1999. Retrieved December 2, 2008.
Following iMALL's sale, Rosenblatt became the founding investor and vice chairman of Great Domains. The company became a leader in the secondary domain market and was acquired by VeriSign, Inc. in October 2000 for $100 million.
In August 2000, Rosenblatt became the interim CEO of the ailing DrKoop.com. His participation was part of a larger effort by investors to reconfigure the business into a hybrid online and offline venture that was structured to be less dependent on the erratic flow of advertising dollars.Konrad, Rachel.[http://news.cnet.com/2100-1017-254110.html “Dr. Koop hopes Buy will get sales in shape”], cnet. March 14, 2001. Retrieved November 15, 2008. The turn-around was nearly complete when the Internet market collapsed and 9/11 occurred, causing the company to file for bankruptcy in December 2001.[https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/34-51529.pdf “SEC legal document”]. Retrieved November 18, 2008.
Rosenblatt became CEO of Superdudes.net, an online gaming community where users created their own Superhero character and participated in global social networking in 2002. {{cite web|url=http://edgar.secdatabase.com/914/119312504102848/filing-main.htm |title=EUNIVERSE INC, Form 10-K, Annual Report, Filing Date Jun 15, 2004 |website=Secdatabase.com |accessdate =May 14, 2018}}
In February 2004, Rosenblatt became CEO of Intermix Media (formerly eUniverse, Inc.), where he led the growth of Myspace.com from an unknown website into a popular Internet property. In 2005, Intermix was sold to News Corporation for US$649 million, $580 million of which was cash, with an additional $69 million paid to private shareholders.Francisco, Bambi.[http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/news-corp-buy-intermix-580/story.aspx?guid={F07134CA-3148-4A59-BA99-9CC81A7620F5} “News Corp. to Pay $580M for Intermix”], MarketWatch. July 18, 2005. Retrieved November 18, 2008.[http://www.newscorp.com/news/news_251.html New Corporation to Acquire Intermix, Media, Inc”] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130113204630/http://www.newscorp.com/news/news_251.html |date=January 13, 2013 }}, News Corp. July 18, 2005. Retrieved November 19, 2008.
In 2005, former New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer filed a lawsuit against Intermix, but Rosenblatt was not among those named in the suit. Spitzer accused the company of installing advertising software without notifying unsuspecting consumers. Intermix acknowledged Spitzer's allegation, but stated that it was part of an outdated practice put in place by previous leadership, and the company no longer installed software without first notifying the customer.Hines, Matt. [http://news.cnet.com/Intermix-hit-with-spyware-suit/2100-7348_3-5688609.html “Intermix hit with spyware suit”], CNET News. April 28, 2005. Retrieved December 11, 2008. The case against Intermix was later settled for a monetary sum, though there was no admission of guilt. The founder and former CEO of Intermix Media Inc., Brad Greenspan, was fined US$750,000 as part of an agreement with Spitzer to end the investigation against him.Regan, Keith.[http://www.technewsworld.com/story/qJxm7qrYd4Lekx/Spitzer-Intermix-Ex-CEO-Agree-on-Settlement.xhtml?wlc=1231460940&wlc=1231462053 "Spitzer, Intermix Ex-CEO Agree on Settlement"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090309165548/http://www.technewsworld.com/story/qJxm7qrYd4Lekx/Spitzer-Intermix-Ex-CEO-Agree-on-Settlement.xhtml?wlc=1231460940&wlc=1231462053 |date=March 9, 2009 }}, TechNewsWorld (link published by E-Commerce Times). October 21, 2005. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
In 2006, Greenspan filed a lawsuit against Intermix, claiming the executives and directors, Rosenblatt among them, withheld key information from shareholders regarding the potential revenue generated by the sale of Intermix to News Corp. Greenspan specifically said the sale cheated shareholders by not including the growth potential of MySpace.com in the agreed upon sales figure.Gardner, Eriq.[http://www.allbusiness.com/services/legal-services/4466071-1.html “Judge Dismisses MySpace Founder’s Suit”], thres (link published by AllBusiness). October 9, 2006. Retrieved December 2, 2008.Scott, Katie.[http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/16607/17631/MySpace-execs-lawsuit-News-Corp.phtml “MySpace execs facing lawsuit over sale to News Corp”], Pocket-lint. August 4, 2008. Retrieved December 11, 2008. The case was dismissed on Friday, October 6, 2006, when Judge Carolyn Kuhl determined that shareholders of Intermix Media, Inc. had been lawfully informed prior to voting on the transaction.[http://www.seattlepi.com/business/288111_myspace10.html “Suit over sale of MySpace dismissed”], Bloomberg News (link published by seattlepi.com). October 10, 2006. Retrieved December 2, 2008.Hefflinger, Mark.[http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2006/10/10/judge-dismisses-shareholder-suit-over-news-corp-purchase-of-myspace “Judge Dismisses Shareholder Suit Over News Corp. Purchase of MySpace”] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090309180048/http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2006/10/10/judge-dismisses-shareholder-suit-over-news-corp-purchase-of-myspace |date=March 9, 2009 }}, digitalmediawire. October 10, 2006. Retrieved December 2, 2008. On August 1, 2008, a judge ordered that one count could proceed in the class action shareholder suit brought against the Intermix executivesMcCarthy, Caroline.[https://web.archive.org/web/20081016045753/http://m.news.com/2166-12_3-10004537-36.html "Small Victory for Brad Greenspan in Ongoing MySpace Spat"], cnetnews. August 1, 2008. Retrieved December 11, 2008.[http://www.cioinsight.com/c/a/Latest-News/MySpace-Shareholders-Trial/ “MySpace Shareholders Suit to go to Trial”], CIOinsight (link published by Reuters). August 1, 2008. Retrieved December 11, 2008.
Rosenblatt then co-founded Demand Media with private-equity executive Colo. The company launched in May 2006 with US$120 million in equity and announced the acquisitions of eNom, Inc. and eHow.com. By March 2008, Demand Media raised the total amount of equity to US$355 million.Ali, Rafat.[http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-demand-media-raises-another-35-million-total-comes-to-355-million/ “Demand Media Raises Another $35 Million; Total Comes to $355 Million”], paidContent.org. March 24, 2008. Retrieved December 2, 2008.Menn, Joseph.[http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2008/06/lance-armstrong.html "Lance Armstrong's LiveStrong Gets a Boost From Demand Media"], Los Angeles Times. June 16, 2008. Retrieved December 2, 2008. In January 2008, Demand Media partnered with Lance Armstrong and the (LAF) to build the daily health, lifestyle and fitness website, Livestrong.com.Ali, Rafat.[http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-lance-armstrong-takes-stake-in-demand-media-launching-wellness-site-tog/ “Lance Armstrong Takes Significant Stake In Demand Media; Launching Wellness Site Together”], January 27, 2008. Retrieved December 2, 2008. Demand Media completed its IPO in January 2011 with a 33% increase in price on its first day of trading and market value of over $2 billion.{{cite news |last1=Launder |first1=William |title=Demand Media's eHow Learns Hard Lessons |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304384104579144130305277324 |work=Wall Street Journal |date=21 October 2013}} Demand Media's board announced Rosenblatt's resignation from both the chairman and CEO roles in an October 14, 2013 news release that also included Rosenblatt's response: "I realize that all journeys must ultimately come to an end and want to wish Shawn and the entire team success as they continue to grow the business."{{cite news|author1=Jennifer Saba|title=Demand Media co-founder, chairman, CEO Rosenblatt exits|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-demandmedia-ceo-idUSBRE99D0P220131014|accessdate=September 22, 2014|website=Reuters.com|date=October 14, 2013|archive-date=January 7, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107041817/http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/14/us-demandmedia-ceo-idUSBRE99D0P220131014|url-status=live}}
In 2014, Rosenblatt joined as CEO of Whipclip, a startup offering a legalized way to share TV clips. The startup expanded by partnering with notable TV channels and record labels to make and share TV and music video clips. It acquired French startup TVShow Time in May 2017 and rebranded as TV Time. TV Time later acquired content value management platform, Mediamorph, to become Whip Media Group.{{cite news |last1=Perez |first1=Sarah |title=Whip Media Group, parent to TV show tracking app TV Time, raises $50M |url=https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/29/whip-media-group-parent-to-tv-show-tracking-app-tv-time-raises-50m/ |work=TechCrunch |date=January 29, 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Spangler |first1=Todd |title=Richard Rosenblatt, Ex-CEO of Demand Media, Joins Whipclip, Startup for Sharing 'Legal TV Moments' |url=https://variety.com/2014/digital/news/legal-tv-moments-richard-rosenblatt-ex-ceo-of-demand-media-starts-up-whipclip-1201370160/ |work=Variety |date=3 December 2014}}{{cite news |last1=Jarvey |first1=Natalie |title=TV Clipping Startup Whipclip Launches, Teams With Comedy Central Ahead of Justin Bieber Roast {{!}} Hollywood Reporter |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tv-clipping-startup-whipclip-launches-784538 |work=Hollywood Reporter |date=March 26, 2015}}
In 2021, Rosenblatt co-founded Autograph with NFL quarterback Tom Brady and serves as the chairman of the company. Autograph is an experience-driven NFT platform to create digital collectibles.
Rosenblatt was on the board of FRS and iCrossing, Inc, now acquired by Hearst.{{cite news |last1=Ovide |first1=Shira |title=Hearst to Buy iCrossing |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703561604575283013675347880 |work=Wall Street Journal |date=3 June 2010}} He was the owner of nightclubs named Air Conditioned but sold it to his partner, Gary John Collins.{{cite news |last1=Stories |first1=Local |title=Meet Gary John Collins of Air Conditioned Lounge |url=http://sdvoyager.com/interview/meet-gary-john-collins-air-conditioned-lounge-north-park-normal-heights/ |work=SDVoyager - San Diego |date=February 1, 2018}} He sits on the boards of Cameo, DraftKings and Imagine Entertainment.{{cite news |last1=Burch |first1=Sean |title=Richard Rosenblatt Joins Cameo's Board of Directors {{!}} Exclusive |url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/richard-rosenblatt-joins-cameo-board-215732640.html |work=Yahoo! News - Entertainment |date=September 15, 2020}}
Rosenblatt is a co-lecturer with Peter Guber under UCLA's MBA program for the course, "New Media: The Convergence of the Poet and the Engineer."Fritz, Ben.[https://www.variety.com/article/VR1117998647.html?categoryid=1009&cs=1 “Guber, Rosenblatt to teach at UCLA”], Variety. January 15, 2009. Retrieved January 15, 2009. He was USC Entrepreneur of the Year 2008.{{cite web|url=http://www.marshall.usc.edu/greif/|title=Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies - USC Marshall|website=Marshall.usc.edu|accessdate=September 28, 2018}}
Recognition
Rosenblatt was USC Entrepreneur of the Year 2008. He was recognized as one of The 50 Smartest People in Tech by Fortune magazine and one of the Most Admired CEOs by Los Angeles Business Journal.{{cite news |last1=Elmer-Dewitt |first1=Philip |title=Fortune names Steve Jobs 'smartest CEO' |url=https://fortune.com/2010/07/09/fortune-names-steve-jobs-smartest-ceo/ |work=Fortune |date=July 9, 2010 |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Proctor |first1=Charles |title=MySpace Parent Now Finds Himself in Demand {{!}} Los Angeles Business Journal |url=https://labusinessjournal.com/news/2009/oct/12/myspace-parent-now-finds-himself-demand/ |work=Los Angeles Business Journal |date=October 12, 2009}}
Philanthropy
In June 2010, Rosenblatt was associated with "several philanthropic organizations," including the Floor Members Outreach Program, the NYSE Fallen Heroes Fund, and, the NYSE Foundation.{{cite web|title=Panelists' Biographies Market Structure Roundtable|url=https://www.sec.gov/spotlight/marketstructure/marketstructurebios.htm|website=U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission|publisher=U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission|accessdate=September 22, 2014|date=June 4, 2010}}
Personal life
Rosenblatt is married to his wife of 28 years, Lisa Rosenblatt. In 2011, he purchased a US$26 million Tuscan mansion located in Brentwood, Los Angeles.{{cite news|author1=Daniel Miller|title=WHY BRENTWOOD REAL ESTATE IS THRIVING; $12 MILLION FRANK GEHRY HOUSE FOR SALE|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/why-brentwood-real-estate-is-217524|newspaper=The Hollywood Reporter|accessdate=September 22, 2014|date=July 31, 2011}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Demand Media}}
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Category:20th-century American Jews
Category:USC Gould School of Law alumni
Category:American chief executives
Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni
Category:People from Woodland Hills, Los Angeles