Oxygen Media
In 1998, she left Disney and partnered with Oprah Winfrey and Carsey-Werner Productions to create Oxygen Media, dedicated to cable and Internet programming for women. She also purchased three women-oriented online services from her former MTV boss, Robert W. Pittman.
On February 2, 2000 (a date which plays off the chemical compound of oxygen -- O2/O2), the Oxygen Network premiered to 10 million subscribers.
LVMH was an early investor, but left in 2001 when Laybourne changed strategy from being an Internet company to a television company.
Laybourne initially hired 700 people, but scaled down to 250. The company went on to become profitable in 2004.
Microsoft billionaire, Paul Allen, who invested in three rounds of Oxygen, forced Oxygen's sale in the fall of 2007 to NBC Universal for $925 million.
At the end of Laybourne's tenure, Oxygen had 270,000 prime-time weekday viewers in 74 million homes.
Read more about this topic: Geraldine Laybourne
Famous quotes containing the words oxygen and/or media:
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