Not many B-school students have the opportunity to ask Michael Eisner for career advice. But as Russell Wolff recounted at Orientation last September during a session on dream jobs—he's executive vice president for ESPN International—that's exactly what he got to do at Tuck. After discussing his ambitions, résumé, and job offers, the redoubtable Disney chief advised Wolff to accept an offer from MTV Networks and turn down a more lucrative consulting opportunity. "Mr. Eisner told me, 'If you want to be in the media and entertainment business, go be in the media and entertainment business. Don't be a consultant to the media and entertainment business,'" says Wolff. "The other piece of advice he gave me was, 'you want to be as close to the product as you can. The people who run these companies at the end of the day are the people who make the product and the people who sell the product.'"
Eisner's advice paid off. Wolff gained the hands-on experience he needed at MTV Networks, where he was director of sales and marketing for MTV, VH-1, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, and TV Land, before moving in 1997 to ESPN International, where he is executive vice president and managing director. "I always envisioned running a network," he says, "and, in my current role, I oversee 30 networks outside the United States for ESPN." He is fully responsible for all of ESPN's international interests, including radio in 13 countries and several popular sports websites.
Under Wolff's guidance, the distribution of ESPN programming and branded products outside the U.S. has grown to reach an estimated 168 million households. He led the 2002 introduction of ESPN Classic Sport to Europe and oversaw the U.S. launch of ESPN Deportes, the company's 24-hour Spanish-language network that premiered in January 2004. But he notes that "what you perceive as ESPN here is not what you see everywhere else. We're not in the export business. We're in the 'tailoring networks for local appeal' business."
To appeal to the local fans, ESPN International has nine versions of its flagship show, Sports Center. Its extreme-sports X Games has also proven popular, with events staged last year in Korea, Dubai, and Thailand. "We're doing business in over 140 countries," said Wolff, who spends more than 60 percent of his time traveling outside the United States.
Wolff says that he owes much of his success to Tuck. When he arrived in Hanover from his marketing job with advertising giant Leo Burnett, "you could have voted me least likely to become a general manager. Now I think Tuck's teamwork focus is an important part of where I am today, as is the ability to be a knowledgeable consumer of financial statements and other quantitative analysis," Wolff says.
Tuck is also where he met his wife, Patricia L. Frank Wolff T'94, who became his accounting tutor after he scored a 62 on his first accounting exam. She is now VP of consumer strategy for PepsiCo International.
What advice does he have for students who hope to land a dream job? "You have to understand who you are and what you like," he says. "'Do I like being in meetings? Do I like being out selling? Do I like sitting at my desk building spreadsheets?' You need to really understand what makes you happy each day."
