Ross Levinsohn is the Sports Illustrated CEO, and the former President of Fox Sports and NBC Entertainment before that. He was also the Vice Chairman of Guggenheim Digital Media.

Levinsohn had a successful career in sports for decades and in the media for over a decade before he became CEO of Sports Illustrated. Ross Levinsohn is well known for being an “eccentric” person with many quirks, but one thing that seems consistent from his days as a player to now is his number choices. While a member of the New York Knicks in the 1990’s, Ross Levinsohn wore #17. He moved to #2 and continued until the end of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004. In 2006, back in New York, he chose the number initially worn by Patrick Ewing when playing for Georgetown University.

Ross Levinsohn was credited with hiring and firing men’s basketball head coach John Thompson III at Georgetown University and women’s basketball head coach Donna Wachenheim at Penn State University. He also hired several women in sports, including Pam Shriver, Denise Stapleton, and Lisa Joyner from ESPN. He also hired the first female head coach in Major League Soccer.

As a Sports Illustrated CEO, Levinsohn is responsible for many decisions, such as hiring and firing athletes, celebrities, models, and more. He was also responsible for changing Sports Illustrated from a “print-based magazine to a multimedia company.” He discussed his thoughts on the matter, saying, “an industry leader like SI simply cannot continue to be successful in a print-based era.”

Ross Levinsohn worked with the NBA for over ten years with ESPN, where he served as president of their NBA business. During his time there, he was credited with being responsible for launching five new programmings, including NBA Countdown and The Life series. He also found multiple programs, including ESPN’s Fantasy Basketball show, which included ESPN on ABC star Hannah Storm.