Andy Bird CBE is a British executive. He was chairman of Walt Disney International until 2018. Bird is the current CEO of Pearson Education.

Early life

Bird grew up in Warrington, England and was educated at

King's School, Macclesfield The King's School, Macclesfield, is an independent school for day pupils in Prestbury, Cheshire, England, and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. It was founded in 1502 by Sir John Percyvale, a former Lord Mayor of Lon ...

. In 1985, Bird gained a Bachelor of Arts degree in English language and literature at

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...

Career

Bird first started his career in broadcasting as one of Timmy Mallett's helpers on Manchester's Piccadilly Radio. He later produced the breakfast show. He later moved to London working for

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expressed ...

's Virgin Broadcasting, working on their music television channel Music Box and satellite radio station 'Radio Radio'. Next was British Satellite Broadcasting's The Power Station channel. In 1990, Bird and Chris Evans formed company

Big and Good Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show * ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television show presente ...

that made programmes for TVam. Bird joined Time Warner in 1994 as senior vice president and general manager of Turner Entertainment Networks Limited. In 2000, he became president of TBS International and was responsible for all TBS broadcasting outside of the United States.

Disney

In 2004, Bird joined The Walt Disney Company and has since overseen the acquisition of Hungama TV in India and investment in India's UTV. He also localizes content and has reorganized Disney's international structure and leadership ranks. Bird was appointed Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to UK media and entertainment.

Pearson

Bird was selected as CEO of

Pearson plc Pearson plc is a British multinational corporation, multinational publishing and education company headquartered in London, England. It was founded as a construction business in the 1840s but switched to publishing in the 1920s.J. A. Spende ...

to replace the retiring John Fallon and has been with the company since October 2020.

References

Living people Disney people Alumni of Newcastle University People from Warrington Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) {{disney-stub