The Paley Center frames these appointments as celebrating storytelling legacy and advancing media innovation. D'Amaro calls it 'deeply aligned with everything the Paley Center stands for.' Totoki praises 'synergies' across gaming, sports, tech, and entertainment. Translation: We're all friends here, working together for the greater good of media.
But let's call this what it actually is—a power grab disguised as philanthropy. Netflix's Ted Sarandos rubbing shoulders with Disney's D'Amaro, TikTok's Adam Presser next to Verizon's Dan Schulman, Roblox and Riot Games gaming execs in the same room as ESPN's James Pitaro. This isn't about celebrating media history; it's about carving up influence before anyone else gets a seat at the table.
Announced May 28, 2026 by Hearst EVP Frank A. Bennack Jr. (Paley chairman) and CEO Maureen J. Reidy. Full trustees list spans 60+ executives including David Zaslav (Warner Bros. Discovery), Adam Silver (NBA), Robert Kraft (Kraft Group), Tyler Perry (Tyler Perry Studios), and Lachlan Murdoch (Fox). Paley Center enters its 50th anniversary year with this board expansion.
The real story isn't who's on the list—it's who decided everyone else stays off it. When Disney, Sony, Netflix, Apple, and TikTok are all in one Zoom call making decisions about 'the future of media,' you can bet your streaming subscription they're not asking for your input.
Move over, Vanity Fair's Oscar party—this is where the real power lunching happens. The Paley Center for Media announced Thursday morning that Walt Disney Co. CEO Josh D'Amaro, Sony Group Corp. president and CEO Hiroki Totoki, and Liberty Media chief Derek Chang are among the newest members joining its Board of Trustees.
Meanwhile, Imagine Entertainment co-founder and chairman Brian Grazer secured a spot on the Paley Los Angeles Board of Governors, alongside Dave Penski, CEO of Publicis Connected Media. The announcements came courtesy of Hearst executive vice chairman Frank A. Bennack, Jr., who serves as chairman of The Paley Center for Media, and president/CEO Maureen J.
Reidy—who made sure to get her name on the press release twice, because why not. "The Paley Center's Board of Trustees and Los Angeles Board of Governors has long brought together some of the most influential leaders across media, business, technology, gaming, and entertainment," Bennack said in a statement that could best be described as 'old money announcing new toys.' But let's not pretend this is about philanthropy. The full trustee list reads like a guest list to a party where the invitations are written on stock certificates: Spotify co-CEO Alex Norström, TikTok USDS Joint Venture CEO Adam Presser, Verizon CEO Dan Schulman, Microsoft exec VP and XBOX CEO Asha Sharma, Roblox's David Baszucki, Riot Games' Brandon Beck.
ESPN's James Pitaro sits alongside NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and NBA commissioner Adam Silver. Netflix has two reps—Ted Sarandos on the trustees board and Bela Bajaria on the LA governors—because apparently one wasn't enough to represent their interests. D'Amaro, in his statement, emphasized Disney's belief "in the power of storytelling to connect people across generations," which is a lovely sentiment that conveniently ignores how aggressively Disney has locked down its IP library while crushing smaller competitors.
Totoki was more direct about the transactional nature of this arrangement: "I have long admired Paley's mission and its synergies with the gaming, sports, technology, and entertainment sectors, all of which are increasingly important growth areas for Sony." Translation: I'm here because Sony needs allies in that room. The LA Board of Governors alone includes Greg Berlanti (Berlanti Productions), George Cheeks (Paramount/Skydance Corporation), Channing Dungey (Warner Bros. Television Group & US Networks), Adam Mosseri (Instagram/Meta), and Michael Wright (MGM+). With the Paley Center entering its 50th anniversary year, these appointments aren't just ceremonial—they're strategic positioning for whoever gets to write the narrative about what media looks like for the next half-century.
