Todd R. Wagner (born August 2, 1960) is an American entrepreneur, co-founder of Broadcast.com and founder and CEO of a company called Charity Network which organizes regular fund raisings. He also co-owns

2929 Entertainment 2929 Entertainment, LLC. is an American integrated media and entertainment company co-founded by billionaire entrepreneurs Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban. 2929 maintains companies and interests across several industries including entertainment develo ...

with

Mark Cuban Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American businessman and television personality. He is the former principal owner and current minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and co-owner of 2929 Entertain ...

, along with other entertainment companies.

Early life

Wagner was born in

Gary, Indiana Gary ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 69,093 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it Indiana's List of municipalities in Indiana, eleventh-most populous city. The city has been historical ...

. He attended Merrillville High School and then

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

, joining

Kappa Sigma Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig or KSig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international Fraternities and sororities in North America, fr ...

fraternity Beta Theta chapter. He graduated from Indiana University in 1983. He earned a J.D. from

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

, then moved to

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, where he became a licensed CPA. He began a legal career with the national firms Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld and Hopkins & Sutter.

Career

Broadcast.com

In 1995, Wagner launched AudioNet with Mark Cuban, a platform for broadcasting live sporting events and radio stations over the internet. As CEO, Wagner grew the company and expanded its services to include corporate events and business services. In 1998 Wagner and Cuban changed the name to Broadcast.com and took the company public in the midst of the

dot-com boom The dot-com bubble (or dot-com boom) was a stock market bubble that ballooned during the late-1990s and peaked on Friday, March 10, 2000. This period of market growth coincided with the widespread adoption of the World Wide Web and the Intern ...

. The Broadcast.com IPO set an opening-day record, with shares climbing 249% from an offering price of $18 to a closing price of $62.75. In 1999, Wagner and Cuban sold Broadcast.com to

Yahoo! Yahoo (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web portal that provides the search engine Yahoo Search and related services including My Yahoo, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, y!entertainment, yahoo!life, and its a ...

for $5.7 billion, making 300 employees millionaires (briefly, on paper) and Wagner and Cuban instant billionaires. Wagner continued to lead the division as Yahoo! Broadcast until May 2000, when he declined an offer to become Yahoo!'s Chief Operating Officer to focus on other interests.

2929 Entertainment

Using the success of Broadcast.com, Wagner built the Wagner/Cuban Companies including

2929 Productions 2929 Entertainment, LLC. is an American integrated media and entertainment company co-founded by billionaire entrepreneurs Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban. 2929 maintains companies and interests across several industries including entertainment develo ...

. Two films the company helped produce received Oscar nominations: (''

Good Night, and Good Luck ''Good Night, and Good Luck'' (stylized as ''good night, and good luck.'') is a 2005 historical drama film directed by George Clooney from a screenplay by Clooney and Grant Heslov. It stars David Strathairn, Patricia Clarkson, Clooney, Jeff D ...

'' and '' Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room''). Other films include ''

Akeelah and the Bee ''Akeelah and the Bee'' is a 2006 American drama film written and directed by Doug Atchison. It tells the story of Akeelah Anderson ( Keke Palmer), an 11-year-old girl who participates in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, her mother ( Angela ...

'' and ''

The Road ''The Road'' is a 2006 post-apocalyptic novel by American writer Cormac McCarthy. The book details the grueling journey of a father and his young son over several months across a landscape blasted by an unspecified cataclysm that has destroyed ...

''. ''Good Night'', directed by and co-starring

George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor, filmmaker, and philanthropist. Known for his leading man roles on screen in both blockbuster and independent films, Clooney has received numerous accolades, including two Ac ...

, was nominated for six

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

including Best Picture. Through 2929 Entertainment, Wagner and Mark Cuban have owned a group of vertically integrated entertainment properties including high-definition production compan
HDNet Films
(produced the Academy Award–nominated documentary ''Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room''); distributor

Magnolia Pictures Magnolia Pictures LLC is an American independent film distributor and production company, and is a subsidiary of Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's 2929 Entertainment. Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in ...

(released ''Enron'' and Oscar-nominated ''

Capturing the Friedmans ''Capturing the Friedmans'' is a 2003 HBO documentary film directed by Andrew Jarecki. It focuses on the 1980s investigation of Arnold and Jesse Friedman for child molestation. The film premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival where it re ...

''); home video division Magnolia Home Entertainment; the

Landmark Theatres Landmark Theatres is a movie theatre chain founded in 1974 in the United States. It was formerly dedicated to exhibiting and marketing independent and foreign films. Landmark consists of 34 theatres with 176 screens in 24 markets. It is known ...

art-house chain which wa
sold in 2018
and high-definition cable channels

HDNet AXS TV () is an American specialty television, cable television channel majority-owned by Canadian broadcaster Anthem Sports & Entertainment. It is devoted primarily to Music television, music-related programming (such as concert films, Document ...

and HDNet Movies now AXS TV.

Other business ventures

Wagner also has a stake in the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

, and he continues to invest in and nurture start-ups. Additionally, Wagner and Mark Cuban were the original investors in Content Partners LLC, a company that invests in the back-end profit participations of Hollywood talent. As of 2019, Wagner remained an equity partner. Additionally Wagner serves on the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

's Board of Trustees. In June 2015, it was announced that Wagner had acquired the celebrity charitable fundraising platform

Prizeo Prizeo is a privately owned Dot-com company, internet company based in Los Angeles, California. It is an online fundraising platform that enables clients to mobilize their fan bases to raise funds and awareness for their chosen causes. In June 2 ...

for an undisclosed sum. Todd’s latest project i
FoodFight USA
a nationwide grassroots campaign to clean up America’s tainted food supply. In an early win, Todd's influence was behind the passing of th
California Food Safety Act
in October 2023.

Charity Network

In 2014, Wagner launched Chideo, a digital platform designed to raise funds and awareness for causes by connecting fans to celebrities through exclusive video content. Over the next two years, Wagner expanded the concept through the acquisition of online sweepstakes platform

in June 2015, and online charity auction site

Charitybuzz Charitybuzz is an internet company that sells and auctions off access to experiences and items to raise funds for nonprofit organizations. Charitybuzz experiences include music, entertainment, business, politics, sports, art, fashion and other ...

in October 2015. In 2016, Wagner announced the formation of Charity Network, parent company to Charitybuzz, Prizeo and Chideo, with a mission to help charities transition from analog to digital. The company uses celebrities, technology and the media to raise awareness for its customers. In February 2017, Charity Network was named one of

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is an American business magazine published monthly in print and online, focusing on technology, business, and design. It releases six print issues annually. History ''Fast Company'' was founded in November 1995 by Alan Webb ...

's 2017 Most Innovative Companies by a website called Fast Company.

References

External links

*
2929 EntertainmentTodd Wagner FoundationPrizeoCharitybuzzFoodFightUSA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Todd People from Gary, Indiana 1960 births Living people Philanthropists from Indiana 2929 Entertainment holdings 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from Indiana 21st-century American philanthropists Indiana University alumni University of Virginia School of Law alumni Yahoo! people