Anjali Sud

Anjali Sud was born on August 13, 1983, in Detroit, Michigan, to Punjabi immigrants from India. She grew up in Flint, Michigan, in a family that believed in the power of business to create positive impact. According to Sud in a CNBC interview, her father would place clips from Wall Street Journal articles about CEOs on her pillow for her to find when she went to sleep, sending the message that "I grew up with parents who believed I could be the person in that clip."

At age 14, Sud left Flint to attend Phillips Academy Andover, an elite boarding school in Massachusetts. She discovered the school by chance when browsing through "The Best High Schools in America" at a Barnes & Noble with her father. Despite not knowing what prep schools were, she applied to approximately 30 schools and was accepted to Phillips Academy, one of the most prestigious prep schools in the country.

Summary

Who: Anjali Sud, CEO of Tubi and former CEO of Vimeo, daughter of Indian immigrants who grew up in Flint, Michigan

What: Profile of a technology and media executive who transformed Vimeo from a YouTube competitor into a successful SaaS platform, then moved to lead Tubi, America's most-watched free streaming service, to over 100 million monthly active users

When: Career spanning from 2005 to present, with key milestones including becoming Vimeo CEO at age 33 in 2017, taking the company public in 2021, and joining Tubi as CEO in 2023

Where: Journey from Flint, Michigan to elite East Coast education (Phillips Academy, University of Pennsylvania, Harvard Business School) to leadership roles in major technology companies in New York and San Francisco

Why: Sud's leadership matters because she represents a new generation of executives reshaping the streaming industry by focusing on free, ad-supported content that serves diverse audiences, challenging traditional Hollywood models and demonstrating how authentic leadership and customer-first strategies can drive significant business growth in competitive markets

Education

Sud graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and Management. She later earned her MBA from Harvard Business School in 2011. She was recently elected to serve on Harvard University's Board of Overseers in May 2025.

Career Trajectory

Early Career (2005-2014)

Between 2005 and 2014, Sud held various positions in finance, media, and e-commerce at several companies:

• Analyst, Mergers & Acquisitions at Sagent Advisors (2005-2007)
• Associate, Mergers & Acquisitions at Time Warner (2007-2009)
• Director of Marketing, Category Lead at Amazon (2011-2014)

Sud's experience at Amazon was particularly formative. She specifically chose investment banking to become "fluent in finance" and understand profit and loss statements, recognizing that financial literacy was essential for running a company, according to the Decoder podcast. At Amazon, she learned key principles including working backwards from customer needs and building cultures that encourage open debate.

Vimeo Leadership (2014-2023)

Sud joined Vimeo, an IAC subsidiary, in July 2014 as Head of Global Marketing. She was promoted to General Manager of Vimeo's core creator business and then became CEO in July 2017 at age 33.

Under her leadership, Vimeo underwent a significant strategic transformation from being a viewing destination competing with YouTube and Netflix to becoming a video software-as-a-service (SaaS) company focused on empowering video creators. As Sud explained in The Verge interview, "we pivoted away from being a viewing destination or media platform, like Facebook or YouTube or Netflix, and really into a video SaaS or software company for businesses."

Key achievements during her tenure at Vimeo included:

• Taking the company public through an IAC spinoff in May 2021
• Growing the platform to over 300 million users
• Building the company to over 1.5 million paying customers
• Overseeing major acquisitions including Livestream (2017), Magisto (2019), and WIREWAX and Wibbitz (2021)

Tubi CEO (2023-Present)

In July 2023, Sud announced she would be joining Tubi as CEO, officially starting in September 2023. She replaced founder Farhad Massoudi. According to Paul Cheesbrough, CEO of Tubi Media Group, in the company's press release, "As Tubi continues to scale and solidify its momentum as the most watched free TV and movie streaming service in the U.S., she is the perfect candidate to lead Tubi into a new era of creativity, growth and market leadership."

Current Role and Vision

As CEO of Tubi, Sud leads America's most-watched free ad-supported streaming service. Under her leadership, the platform has achieved significant milestones:

• June 2025: Tubi exceeded 100 million monthly active users and surpassed 1 billion hours of total viewing time in May 2025
• Market Position: According to Nielsen's The Gauge, Tubi reached 2.2% of total TV viewing minutes in May 2025
• Content Strategy: The platform offers nearly 300,000 movies and TV episodes and 400 Tubi Originals

Sud's strategic vision for Tubi focuses on several key areas:

1. Free Entertainment Model: "I really believe the future of entertainment is going to be free for consumers," Sud stated in her CNBC interview. The platform is 100% ad-supported with no subscription fees.
2. Diverse Content and Creators: Sud emphasizes serving "fandoms and resonate with young, multicultural audiences" and has launched initiatives like "Stubios," the first fan-fueled studio in streaming.
3. Competition Strategy: Rather than directly competing with Netflix or YouTube, Sud positions Tubi as serving underrepresented audiences and unique content needs.

Leadership Philosophy and Style

Sud's leadership approach is shaped by several key principles:

Decision-Making Framework

When making strategic decisions, Sud asks three questions:

1. Are we solving a mission-critical problem that's big enough to matter?
2. Is our plan one that will enable us to solve it effectively?
3. Can we do this better than others, consistently over time?

Authentic Leadership

Sud emphasizes the importance of being authentic rather than trying to conform to others' expectations. "I spent so much time when I was younger; so much energy was wasted trying to show up as a certain kind of leader or trying to contort myself to be what I thought everyone would want me to be," she reflected in her CNBC interview.

Work-Life Integration

Sud is notably disciplined about sleep, maintaining 8-9 hours per night for over a decade. "My big life hack is sleep," she stated in her CNBC interview, viewing it as essential to her performance and decision-making ability.

Recognition and Board Positions

Sud serves on several prominent boards:

• SiriusXM (Board Member, April 2025-Present)
• Dolby Laboratories (Board Member, May 2019-Present)
• Change.org (Chairwoman & Board Member, December 2022-Present)
• Harvard University Board of Overseers (June 2025-Present)

Awards and Recognition

• Fortune's "40 Under 40" (2018)
• The Hollywood Reporter's "Next Gen Under 35" (2017)
• World Economic Forum Young Global Leader
• Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute (2023)
• CNBC Changemaker (2025)
• The Hollywood Reporter's "Most Powerful Women in Entertainment" (2024)

Business Philosophy

Sud's approach to business is deeply influenced by her upbringing in Flint, Michigan, where she witnessed the impact business can have on communities. "I come at it from more of an optimistic angle, which is the power that business can have to positively influence a community," she explained in her Business Insider interview.

Her experience across different companies has shaped her belief in putting customers first, encouraging intellectual honesty and open debate within organizations, and focusing on sustainable growth rather than short-term metrics.

Timeline

1983: Anjali Sud born in Detroit, Michigan

1997: Leaves Flint at age 14 to attend Phillips Academy Andover

2005: Graduates from University of Pennsylvania with B.Sc. in Finance and Management

2005-2007: Analyst, Mergers & Acquisitions at Sagent Advisors

2007-2009: Associate, Mergers & Acquisitions at Time Warner

2011: Graduates from Harvard Business School with MBA

2011-2014: Director of Marketing, Category Lead at Amazon

July 2014: Joins Vimeo as Head of Global Marketing

July 2017: Promoted to CEO of Vimeo at age 33

May 2021: Takes Vimeo public through IAC spinoff

July 2023: Announces departure from Vimeo to join Tubi

September 2023: Officially begins role as CEO of Tubi

June 2025: Tubi exceeds 100 million monthly active users under Sud's leadership

June 2025: Elected to Harvard University Board of Overseers

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