Elisabeth DeMarse is an American businesswoman and the former Chairwoman, CEO, and President of TheStreet.com. As of 2022, she is a board member of the NYC-based ad-fraud prevention and marketing company Kubient Inc.

Early life and education

DeMarse grew up in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

and graduated from Charlotte Country Day School. She received her A.B. course degree from

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...

and her

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

degree from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

. Her father, Samuel Cummings Hair, ran Interstate Advertising, an outdoor and airport display company in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. Her mother, Liz Hair, was Chairman of the Board of Commissioners for Mecklenburg County. At age 15, she founded an alternative newspaper, The Naked Truth, and was editor of The Country Day Monitor.

Career

DeMarse began her career in politics by serving on the Senate Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities (aka The Watergate Committee) and then as an aide to Congressman Edward I. Koch. DeMarse went with Koch to New York’s City Hall when he became Mayor. Koch named DeMarse to a four-year term on the New York Commission on the Status of Women in 1985.

Bloomberg, L.P.

After graduating from Harvard Business School, DeMarse became assistant to Robert Flanagan, CEO of

Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Denver, Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the co ...

. In 1988, she joined

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman and politician. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2023. He served as the 108th mayo ...

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician a ...

as head of marketing. While at Bloomberg, DeMarse launched eight businesses, including Bloomberg.com. She launched the Bloomberg series of cartoon books with

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

magazine. While serving at Bloomberg, DeMarse compiled '' The Portable Bloomberg: The Wit and Wisdom of Michael Bloomberg'', a collection of aphorisms and sayings by the company's founder.

Bankrate, Inc.

While at Bloomberg, DeMarse created and ran Bloomberg Personal Finance, then termed “Personal Wealth.” In 2000, she was recruited by former

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

publisher Jeff Cunningham to run iLife. At that time, iLife was in financial trouble and ranked #7 on the March 2000 Barron’s “Burn Rate” list. Two quarters later, ad revenues had increased, and the company's cash flow returned to break-even levels. The stock price rose from $0.18 to $26 per share. She re-branded the company as Bankrate.com. In 2000, Bankrate's unique visitors grew from 700,000 to 5 million. In 2004, Bankrate reported $14 million in net income. On November 1, 2001, DeMarse testified before the US Congress on the impact of

9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

on the credit card billing of the consumer. DeMarse also testified before the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, regarding the ‘unfairness’ of consumer late fees brought about by the events of 9/11. Subsequently, some issuers, notably

Capital One Capital One Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company founded on July 21, 1994, and specializing in credit cards, auto loans, banking, and savings accounts, headquartered in Tysons, Virginia, with operations primarily in the ...

, cancelled their late fees.

President and CEO, DeMarseCo

In 2006, she founded DeMarseCo in partnership with venture capitalist

Austin Ventures Austin Ventures (AV) is a private equity firm focused on venture capital and growth equity investments in business services and supply chain, financial services, new media, Internet, and information services companies nationally with a focus on ...

. DeMarseCo acquired multiple tech companies, including ClickSuccess, Freedom Marketing, and All Star Directories.

President and CEO, CreditCards.com

DeMarse became president and CEO of CreditCards.com. Under DeMarse's leadership, the company was twice named to the Inc. 500, and as a recipient of the Association for Corporate Growth award. She received the Working Mother of the Year award in 2008. CreditCards.com was acquired by Bankrate in 2010.

CEO, Newser.com

On October 17, 2010, after the sale of Creditcards.com to Bankrate, it was announced that DeMarse would undertake the role as CEO of

Newser Newser is an American news aggregation website. It was founded in 2007 by journalist/media pundit Michael Wolff and businessman Patrick Spain, the former CEO of HighBeam Research and Hoover's. Newser's president and editor-in-chief is Kate Sea ...

, an internet news publisher listed at the #25 most influential internet publication by OMMA. On February 28, 2011, Andrew Ross Sorkin disclosed that Newser’s pending acquisition of

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive and liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, includ ...

had failed.

Chairman, President and CEO, TheStreet, Inc.

On March 7, 2012, TheStreet.com announced that DeMarse was hired as CEO and president, replacing outgoing CEO Daryl Otte, effective immediately. She was named Chairman April 16, 2012. On September 12, 2012, TheStreet acquired The Deal, LLC. On April 22, 2013, TheStreet acquired three properties from DealFlow Media: The DealFlow Report, The Life Settlements Report, and the PrivateRaise database.

Philanthropies

DeMarse has contributed to the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company for 20 years, serving as secretary, treasurer, and President of the Board.

Public company boards

DeMarse has been a board member of Edgar Online, YP Corporation, InsWeb Corporation, Heska Corporation, Internet Patents Corporation, Incredimail.com, and Stockgroup. She is currently a board member of Kubient Inc.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demarse, Elisabeth Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Businesspeople from Charlotte, North Carolina Harvard Business School alumni 21st-century American businesswomen Wellesley College alumni Charlotte Country Day School alumni Watergate scandal investigators 20th-century American businesswomen 20th-century American women civil servants