A media proprietor, also called a media executive, media mogul, media tycoon, or press baron is an

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

who controls any means of public or commercial

mass media Mass media include the diverse arrays of media that reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit information electronically via media such as films, radio, recorded music, or television. Digital media comprises b ...

, through the personal ownership or holding of a dominant position within a

media conglomerate A media conglomerate, media company, media group, or media institution is a company that owns numerous companies involved in mass media enterprises, such as music, television, radio, publishing, motion pictures, video games, amusement parks, or ...

or enterprise. Those with significant control of a large

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

-based forum may also be called a

business magnate A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

. Since the advent of

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

, influencers and entertainers who have garnered large followings on platforms have also been considered media proprietors.

History

In the United States, newspaper proprietors first became prominent in the 19th century with the development of mass circulation newspapers. In the 20th century, proprietorship expanded to include ownership of radio and television networks, as well as film studios, publishing houses, online platforms, and other forms of multimedia companies. Reflecting this, the term "press baron" was replaced by "media baron" and the term "media mogul" (or "Hollywood mogul" when applied to people specifically working in the

American film industry American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, ...

) was popularized in

colloquial Colloquialism (also called ''colloquial language'', ''colloquial speech'', ''everyday language'', or ''general parlance'') is the linguistic style used for casual and informal communication. It is the most common form of speech in conversation amo ...

English. Media proprietors are likely to claim that their publications are editorially independent and unbiased, but this is often questioned. Social networking services such as

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

are sometimes considered media companies due to their widespread influence.

Notable media proprietors

Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook (25 May 1879 – 9 June 1964), was a Canadian-British newspaper publisher and backstage politician who was an influential figure in British media and politics of the first half of the 20th century ...

Sally Aw Aw Sian also known as Sally Aw, OBE, DStJ, JP, (born 1932) is a Hong Kong businesswoman and daughter of the Burmese-born entrepreneur and newspaper proprietor Aw Boon-haw. Sally Aw was nicknamed ''Tiger Balm Lady'' as well as ''Chinese Howa ...

Andrej Babiš Andrej Babiš (; born 2 September 1954) is a Czech businessman and politician who served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, prime minister of the Czech Republic from 2017 to 2021. He previously served as the Finance Minister of the Cze ...

Zdeněk Bakala Zdeněk Bakala (born 7 February 1961) is a Czech entrepreneur and investor. Business career Zdenek Bakala is a stakeholder in mining, energy, financial businesses and owns the media company Economia, the publisher of '' Hospodářské noviny'' a ...

David and Frederick Barclay Sir David Rowat Barclay (27 October 1934 – 10 January 2021) and Sir Frederick Hugh Barclay (born 27 October 1934), commonly referred to as the "Barclay Brothers" or "Barclay Twins", were British billionaire brothers, of whom Frederick Barclay ...

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; 29 September 193612 June 2023) was an Italian Media proprietor, media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a mem ...

Jeff Bezos Jeffrey Preston Bezos ( ;; and Robinson (2010), p. 7. ; born January 12, 1964) is an American businessman best known as the founder, executive chairman, and former president and CEO of Amazon, the world's largest e-commerce and clou ...

Conrad Black Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour (born 25 August 1944), is a Canadian-British writer and former politician, Publishing, newspaper publisher, Investor, financier, and Fraudster, convicted fraudster. Black's father was businessma ...

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 ...

Lukas Bonnier Per Lukas Daniel Bonnier (16 June 1922 – 8 February 2006) was a Swedish publisher. He was a member of the Bonnier family, the son of Tor Bonnier. Bonnier was president of Åhlen & Åkerlunds tidskriftsförlag from 1957–1978 and 1980–1982. ...

Scooter Braun Scott Samuel "Scooter" Braun ( ; born June 18, 1981) is an American businessman, investor, and record executive. Since 2023 he has served as chief executive officer (CEO) of Hybe America, the North American subsidiary of South Korean entertain ...

Subhash Chandra Subhash Chandra Goenka (born 30 November 1950) is an Indian billionaire media baron. He is the Chairman Emeritus of ZEE and Chairman of the Essel Group, an Indian media conglomerate and founded Zee TV in 1992. He was also the chairman of Z ...

Assis Chateaubriand Francisco de Assis Chateaubriand Bandeira de Melo (pronounced ), also nicknamed Chatô (October 4, 1892 – April 4, 1968), was a Brazilian lawyer, journalist, politician and diplomat. He was founder and director of the prominent media conglomer ...

Gustavo Cisneros Gustavo Alfredo Jiménez de Cisneros y Rendiles (1 June 1945 – 29 December 2023) was a Venezuelan businessman and Chairman of '' Grupo Cisneros''. A onetime billionaire, according to ''Forbes,'' his net worth peaked at US$6.0 billion in 2007 ...

Victor Civita Victor Civita (February 9, 1907 - August 24, 1990) was an Italian-born Brazilian journalist and publisher. His family emigrated from Italy to New York in 1938 following passage of the Race Law. In 1949 Civita relocated his family to Brazil, wh ...

Sean Combs Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Diddy, and formerly Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, record producer, and record executive. Born in Harlem and raised in Mount Vernon, New York, Mount Ve ...

Richard Desmond Richard Clive Desmond (born 8 December 1951) is a British publisher, businessman, and former Pornography, pornographer. According to the 2021 ''Sunday Times Rich List'', Desmond was the 107th richest person in the United Kingdom. He is the fo ...

Hans Dichand Hans Dichand (29 January 1921 in Graz – 17 June 2010 in Vienna) was an Austrian journalist, writer, and media businessman. He published the Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper ''Kronen Zeitung'', Austria's largest newspaper in terms of ...

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

Aydın Doğan Aydın Doğan (born 15 April 1936) is a Turkish business magnate and investor. He is the founder of Doğan Holding, one of Turkey's largest conglomerates. Biography Born in 1936 as a member of a well-known family in Kelkit, Doğan went to el ...

Jack Dorsey Jack Patrick Dorsey (born November 19, 1976) is an American businessperson, who is a co-founder of Twitter, Inc. and its CEO during 2007–2008 and 2015–2021, as well as co-founder, principal executive officer and chairman of Block, Inc. (deve ...

Iris Fontbona Iris Balbina Fontbona González (born October 2, 1944) is a Chilean mining magnate, media proprietor, billionaire businesswoman, and the widow of Andrónico Luksic Abaroa, from whom she inherited Antofagasta PLC. As of February 2025, ''Forbes ...

Steve Forbes Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Jr. (; born July 18, 1947) is an American publishing executive and politician who is the editor-in-chief of ''Forbes'', a business magazine. He is the son of longtime ''Forbes'' publisher Malcolm Forbes and the grandso ...

* Octávio Frias *

Sheyene Gerardi Sheyene Gerardi (born April 13) is an Italo-Venezuelan former actress, producer, and media proprietor. Outside the entertainment industry, her career also encompasses roles as a mining executive and the Lead of Robotics Outreach at NASA (CLASS), ...

Lew Grade Lew Grade, Baron Grade, (born Lev Winogradsky; 25 December 1906 – 13 December 1998) was a Ukrainian-born British media proprietor and impresario. Originally a dancer, and later a talent agent, Grade's interest in television production ...

Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe (15 July 1865 – 14 August 1922), was a British newspaper and publishing magnate. As owner of the ''Daily Mail'' and the ''Daily Mirror'', he was an early developer of popular journal ...

Harold Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere Harold Sidney Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere (26 April 1868 – 26 November 1940), was a leading British newspaper proprietor who owned Associated Newspapers Ltd. He is best known, like his brother Alfred Harmsworth, later Viscount Northcl ...

Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere Jonathan Harold Esmond Vere Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere (born 3 December 1967), is a British peer and owner of a newspaper and media empire founded by his great-grandfather Harold Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere. He is the chairman ...

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His extravagant methods of yellow jou ...

Robert Hersant Robert Hersant (; 30 January 1920 – 21 April 1996) was a French newspaper magnate. He was a leader in the pro-Nazi youth movement during the Vichy wartime years, but after prison time built a major newspaper empire and engaged in conservati ...

Alfred Hugenberg Alfred Ernst Christian Alexander Hugenberg (19 June 1865 – 12 March 1951) was an influential German businessman and politician. An important figure in nationalist politics in Germany during the first three decades of the twentieth century, ...

Sir Edward Hulton, 1st Baronet Sir Edward Hulton, 1st Baronet (3 March 1869 – 23 May 1925) was a British newspaper proprietor and thoroughbred racehorse owner. In 1921, he was awarded a baronetcy, of Downside in the parish of Leatherhead in Surrey, for public service ...

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

Ekta Kapoor Ekta Kapoor (born 7 June 1975) is an Indian television and film producer, known for her work in Hindi television and Bollywood cinema. She is the founder of Balaji Telefilms, Balaji Telefilms Limited, where she serves as joint managing directo ...

Jeffrey Katzenberg Jeffrey Katzenberg ( ; born December 21, 1950) is an American media proprietor and film producer. He served as chairman of Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994, a position in which he oversaw production and busin ...

Tony Khan Antony Rafiq Khan (born October 10, 1982) is an American businessman, sports executive, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the founder, co-owner, president, CEO, executive producer, and head booker of All Elite Wrestling ...

* Jean-Luc and

Arnaud Lagardère Arnaud Lagardère (; born 18 March 1961) is a French businessman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lagardère SA, holding company of the Lagardère group and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hachette Livre. He is the son of Jean-Lu ...

Jimmy Lai Lai Chee-ying ( zh, t=黎智英; born 8 December 1947), also known as Jimmy Lai, is a Hong Kong businessman and politician. He founded Giordano (clothing), Giordano, an Asian clothing retailer, Next Digital (formerly Next Media), a Hong Kon ...

Henry Luce Henry Robinson Luce (April 3, 1898 – February 28, 1967) was an American magazine magnate who founded ''Time'', ''Life'', '' Fortune'', and ''Sports Illustrated'' magazines. He has been called "the most influential private citizen in the Amer ...

Edir Macedo Edir Macedo (born February 18, 1945) is a Brazilian evangelical bishop, writer, billionaire businessman, and the founder of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG). He is the owner and chairman of the third-largest television network in ...

Roberto Marinho Roberto Pisani Marinho (December 3, 1904 – August 6, 2003) was a Brazilian businessman and tycoon who was the founder and owner of media conglomerate Grupo Globo from 1925 to 2003, and during this period expanded the company from newspapers to ...

Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, politician and fraudster. After escaping the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, ...

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon ( ; born August 24, 1945) is an American businessman and former professional wrestling promoter. McMahon, along with his later-estranged wife Linda McMahon, Linda, is a co-founder of the modern WWE, the world's largest ...

John de Mol Jr. Johannes Hendrikus Hubert "John" de Mol Jr. is a Dutch media proprietor. De Mol is one of the men behind production companies Endemol and Talpa. He created the reality television formats '' Big Brother'', ''Star Academy'' and'' The Voice'' ...

Javier Moll Javier Moll (born in 1950) is a Spanish businessman and owner of the Barcelona-based media company Editorial Prensa Ibérica. In 2007 his company owned more than 20 newspapers in Spain and Portugal. He currently owns assets in South Australia, inc ...

Sun Myung Moon Sun Myung Moon (; born Moon Yong-myeong; 6 January 1920 – 3 September 2012) was a Korean religious leader, also known for his business ventures and support for conservative political causes. A messiah claimant, he was the founder of the ...

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian - American retired business magnate, investor, and media mogul. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of List of assets owned by News Corp, local, national, a ...

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman. He is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has been considered the wealthiest person in th ...

* Samuel Newhouse *

Roberto Noble Roberto Noble (9 September 1902 – 12 January 1969) was an Argentine politician, journalist and publisher, perhaps best known for having founded '' Clarín'', long Argentina's leading news daily and the most or second-most circulated in the Span ...

Denis O'Brien Denis O'Brien (born 19 April 1958) is an Irish billionaire businessman, and the founder and owner of Digicel. He was listed among the World's Top 200 Billionaires in 2015 and was Ireland's richest native-born citizen for several years. His bus ...

Davíð Oddsson Davíð Oddsson (pronounced ; born 17 January 1948) is an Icelandic politician, and the longest-serving prime minister of Iceland, in office from 1991 to 2004. From 2004 to 2005 he served as Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Iceland), foreign minis ...

Tony O'Reilly Sir Anthony John Francis O'Reilly (7 May 1936 – 18 May 2024) was an Irish businessman and international rugby union player. He was known for his try scoring in rugby, his involvement in the Independent News & Media Group, which he led from ...

Kerry Packer Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. The Packer family company owned a controlling ...

David Portnoy David Scott Portnoy (born March 22, 1977) is an American businessman and social media personality. He is the founder and owner of sports and popular culture company Barstool Sports. Early life Portnoy was born and raised in Swampscott, Massa ...

Shahrzad Rafati Shahrzad Rafati is an Iranian Canadians, Iranian-Canadian Chairperson, chairwoman and CEO of RHEI, formerly BBTV, a global tech company headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, which develops AI solutions for content creators and media companies, incl ...

Sumner Redstone Sumner Murray Redstone ( Rothstein; May 27, 1923 – August 11, 2020) was an American billionaire businessman and media magnate. He was the founder and chairman of the second incarnation of Viacom, chairman of CBS Corporation (both companies m ...

Mir Shakil ur Rehman Mir Shakil ur Rahman (born 8 January 1957), also known as MSR, is a Pakistani media mogul and businessman. He is the founder of the 24-hour news cycle network, ''Geo TV''. In addition, he is also the owner of the Jang Group of Newspapers and t ...

Pat Robertson Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (March 22, 1930 – June 8, 2023) was an American Media proprietor, media mogul, Televangelism, televangelist, political commentator, presidential candidate, and charismatic movement, charismatic minister. Rober ...

Jaume Roures Jaume Roures Llop (born 8 September 1950) is a Spanish businessman, film producer and media mogul from Catalonia. Roures is best known as the founder of the newspaper '' Público'' and as the CEO of the media group Mediapro. Considered a left-wi ...

Haim Saban Haim Saban (; ; born October 15, 1944) is an Israeli and American media proprietor, investor, musical composer and producer of records, film, and television. A businessman with interests in financial services, entertainment, and media, and an ...

Silvio Santos Senor Abravanel (; 12 December 1930 – 17 August 2024), known professionally as Silvio Santos, was a Brazilian television presenter and business magnate. Widely regarded as the greatest personality in Television in Brazil, Brazilian television, ...

Manmohan Shetty Manmohan Shetty is an Indian entrepreneur who founded and developed Adlabs Films Ltd, one of India’s largest media and entertainment firms. Biography Shetty was born and schooled in Mangalore in India to a Tulu-speaking Tuluva Bunt commun ...

* Matsutaro Shoriki *

Evan Spiegel Evan Thomas Spiegel (born June 4, 1990) is an American businessman, co-founder and CEO of Snap Inc. Spiegel was the youngest billionaire in the world in 2015. , he had a personal net worth of $2.6 billion according to ''Forbes''. Early li ...

Axel Springer Axel Cäsar Springer (2 May 1912 – 22 September 1985) was a German publisher and founder of what is now Axel Springer SE, the largest media publishing firm in Europe. By the early 1960s his print titles dominated the West German daily press m ...

A. G. Sulzberger Arthur Gregg Sulzberger (born August 5, 1980) is an American journalist serving as the chairman of the New York Times Company and publisher of its flagship newspaper, ''The New York Times''. Early life and education Sulzberger was born in Wash ...

Al-Waleed bin Talal Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud (; born 7 March 1955) is a Saudi Arabian billionaire businessman, investor, and a House of Saud royal. In 2008, he was listed on ''Time'' magazine's ''Time 100'', an annual list of the hundred most influential people ...

Chairul Tanjung Chairul Tanjung (born 18 June 1962) is an Indonesian businessman. He is the former Coordinating Minister for Economics in the Indonesian cabinet. He was appointed to this post by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on 19 May 2014 following the resi ...

Hary Tanoesoedibjo Bambang Hary Iswanto Tanoesoedibjo (born 26 September 1965), usually shortened to Hary Tanoesoedibjo or Hary Tanoe, is an Indonesian businessman and politician. He is the chairman of PT MNC Asia Holding Tbk, which he founded in 1989. As the chai ...

* David Thomson *

Roy Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet Roy Herbert Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet, (5 June 1894 – 4 August 1976) was a Canadian-born British newspaper proprietor who became one of the moguls of Fleet Street in London. He first came to prominence when he was selling radios in ...

Ted Turner Robert Edward Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and Philanthropy, philanthropist. He founded the CNN, Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, ...

Tsuneo Watanabe was a Japanese journalist and newspaper executive. He was the Representative Director and Managing Editor of Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings, which publishes the largest Japanese daily newspaper ''Yomiuri Shimbun'' and substantially controls the larg ...

Jan Wejchert Jan Bohdan Wejchert (; 5 January 1950 – 31 October 2009) was a Polish businessman and media mogul. He had a net worth of $1.3 billion (Forbes) Wejchert was the co-founder of the ITI Group, one of Poland's largest media groups, as well as the ...

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an American television presenter, talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show' ...

Mark Zuckerberg Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born May 14, 1984) is an American businessman who co-founded the social media service Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms, of which he is the chairman, chief executive officer, and controlling sharehold ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Proprietor, Media Concentration of media ownership Mass media occupations