Chuck Davis (businessman)
Chuck Davis (born 1960) is an experienced Internet entrepreneur. Since May 2014, Davis has served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Prodege, LLC, a leading Internet and media company based in El Segundo, California that operates multiple customer engagement brands.[1] Its flagship consumer business, Swagbucks, is the Internet's top rewards site delivering free gift cards and cash to its members for the everyday activities they are already doing online, like shopping, searching, and watching videos. Davis previously served as Prodege’s Executive Chairman from January 2013–April 2014.
Education and early career
Davis earned a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University (1982) and his Master in Business Administration from Harvard University (1986).
Davis started his professional career in marketing, circulation, and financial roles at Time Inc.’s Sports Illustrated, Life, and Time magazines.
During two of his college years, Davis interned for NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle having developed a relationship from his middle school first entrepreneurial media venture, Pro Grid Weekly. Davis attended 10 consecutive NFL drafts beginning in 8th grade as a guest of the Commissioner.
Davis served as senior vice president of marketing and circulation for TV Guide (Radnor, Pennsylvania), America’s largest magazine with circulation of 14 million weekly paid copies, from 1992-95. During his tenure, Davis increased TV Guide subscriptions from 7 million to 9 million.
Entrepreneurial career
In 1996, Davis left TV Guide to join his first digital venture at The Walt Disney Company’s Internet Group in Los Angeles where he became its first President, eCommerce. During his tenure through 1999, Davis launched many merchant and travel businesses including Disneystore.com, Disneyvacations.com, and ESPNstore.com in addition to supervising advertising sales, marketing, and online subscription initiatives. Disneystore.com achieved profitability in its fifth quarter of existence under his leadership.
In 1999 Davis became President and CEO of Shopzilla, Inc., also known as BizRate.com. Davis led Shopzilla to become the largest, most profitable and fastest-growing comparison shopping site online from 1999–2005. Shopzilla was acquired by the E.W. Scripps Company for $569 million in 2005.[2]
From 2006–2011, Davis led Fandango as its Chairman and CEO, to become the nation’s top moviegoer web, mobile, and ecommerce destination. Comcast Corporation acquired Fandango in April 2007.
Davis also serves as a venture partner for Technology Crossover Ventures in Palo Alto, California.[3] TCV manages over $10 billion in active funds including investments in Facebook, Netflix, and Zillow. TCV was also an investor in Fandango prior to its sale to Comcast Corporation. In May 2014, concurrently with Davis’ appointment as the CEO of Prodege, LLC, TCV invested $60 million in Prodege, in the company’s only external investment round.[4]
Other activities
Davis is a digital industry board director and advisor to several companies. He serves as Executive Chairman of The Teaching Company, which has produced over 500 online courses under its The Great Courses brand, all taught by the world’s leading university professors. Davis also serves as a director for the publicly-traded wireless company Boingo Wireless, Inc. (NASDAQ: WIFI) and Cyndx Partners, a boutique investment bank.
Davis also serves as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Harvard Business School, where he meets with students representing over 50 startups annually. He is a director for the Brown University Sports Foundation. Previously, he served as an alumni elected member of the Brown University’s Corporation from 2007–13 and headed its Advancement Committee.
In 2004, Davis was voted as Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young for Los Angeles and currently serves as a judge for the annual competition. He was voted into the LAVA (Los Angeles Venture Association) Hall of Fame in 2015.[5]
Davis was elected as the 2012–13 international chairman of the Young Presidents’ Organization, where he served on its international board for five years. YPO is the world’s largest CEO business organization with 23,000 members in over 130 countries, whose companies account for 10% of the world’s GDP. Davis previously served as a director for Business.com through its $345 million sale to R.W. Donnelly. Additionally, he was elected six times to Shop.org’s board of directors, which is the ecommerce industry trade association, and served for 11 years.
Family and leisure
Davis is an outdoor enthusiast and enjoys skiing, hiking and golf. Davis is married and has two adult children.