David Pecker

David J. Pecker became Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of American Media, Inc. (AMI) in May 1999, when along with Evercore Partners, he purchased the company. Today, AMI is the leading publisher of celebrity and health & fitness magazines including Star, National Enquirer, Shape and Men’s Fitness. The company’s holdings also include Distribution Services Inc. (DSI), the leading supermarket in-store merchandiser. Following 9/11 on October 2001, American Media became the first U.S. company to be targeted by bio-terrorists using anthrax, and one of its employees the first casualty of this new kind of war. Despite being evacuated from its corporate headquarters, Mr. Pecker moved quickly to relocate the company’s operations and all AMI titles were published on schedule. In November of 2002, Mr. Pecker and Evercore acquired Weider Publications Inc. the leading publisher of health & fitness magazines, including category leader Shape and Men’s Fitness. It was the latest acquisition in a 20-year career that has seen Mr. Pecker complete more than $4 Billion in magazine transactions. In April 2003, Mr. Pecker participated in the $1.5 billion recapitalization of AMI led by Evercore and Thomas H. Lee Partners. In April 2004, Mr. Pecker re-launched Star as a 100-page glossy, the first time a tabloid was ever successfully converted to magazine format. From 2004 to the present, Mr. Pecker oversaw unprecedented growth in AMI’s advertising, with paging for its titles up 19% over the five year period (including a 58% increase for Star) while industry totals declined 8.7% for the same period. During this time, Shape became the #1 title in the Women’s Active Lifestyle Category, Men’s Fitness was successfully re-launched, and digital platforms were developed for all the company’s brands. By adding Playboy to AMI’s stable of strong male focused titles including Men’s Fitness, Muscle & Fitness and Flex, the company now reaches an astounding number of men.