Kay Koplovitz

Koplovitz founded the USA Network in 1977 as an all-sports service, known as the Madison Square Garden Sports Network (not to be confused with the New York City-area regional sports network of the same name now simply known as MSG);[3][4] the channel was renamed the USA Network in 1980. USA would eventually become the number one ranking cable network in primetime viewership for 13 consecutive years.[4] Under her leadership, the SyFy Channel was launched in 1992 and USA Network International was launched in 1994, operating in countries around the world.[4] Koplovitz is also credited for creating the concept for two revenue streams of licensing and advertising.[1] She served as chairman and chief executive officer until 1998, when it was sold for $4.5 billion and it became a publicly listed company.[1]

In 1998, President Bill Clinton appointed Koplovitz to chair the bipartisan National Women's Business Council.[5] This helped create a platform for her to Co-Found Springboard Enterprises in 2000. Since 2000, Kay has served as Chairman of Springboard Enterprises, where under her leadership, the mission of the venture-catalyst accelerator has been an ecosystem of essential resources and a global community of over 5,000 experts connecting its alumni to human, social, and financial capital to support the next phase of their company’s growth. In a year where business has suffered greatly from the economic realities of the COVID-19 pandemic, Springboard Enterprises’ alumnae are Defying Gravity: their innovative solutions are accelerating and transforming industries. They have raised more than $1.5 Billion in the year 2020 alone, creating a total of $27.2 Billion in value since launched in the year 2000, with 216 exits to strategic acquirers and 21 IPOs. [6]

In 2016, Kay co-founded Springboard Growth Capital to bring growth stage investments to women-led companies building iconic brands with the digital consumer in mind and a path to profitability in sight. Springboard Growth Capital is leveraging the strong brand, deep entrepreneurial relationships, and the extensive network of experts, investors, mentors built by Springboard Enterprises during the past 20 years.

In 1998, Koplovitz & Company LLC was established to provide advisory services to entertainment companies, sports organizations, advertisers and distributors. It advises companies on growth strategies and the firm makes investments in early and mid-stage companies in media and technology.[7]

Koplovitz currently serves on the board of Veniam and The International Hall of Fame. She previously served as chairman of the board of Kate Spade formerly Liz Claiborne, from January 2007 until May 2013.[1] She also previously served as a board member of ION Media, CA Technologies,Time Inc., Instinet, Oracle, Nabisco and General Re.[5] Sun New Media and a trustee of The Paley Center for Media.

In April 2014, it was announced that Kay Koplovitz would sit on the 10-member board of Time Inc., the publishing arm of Time Warner Inc. (now WarnerMedia; Time Inc. was spun off to Meredith Corporation in 2018).[8]