MEDIA RELATIONS

<< [Back to Corporate Officers]

John S. Zieser

Chief Development Officer, General Counsel and Secretary

John S. Zieser serves as Chief Development Officer, General Counsel and Secretary of Meredith Corporation.  He is responsible for managing the Company's business development function, as well as legal affairs, corporate communications and government relations.  Zieser is also Secretary to the Meredith Board of Directors.  Zieser has led Meredith’s business and strategic initiatives ranging from the purchase of the magazine franchises of Gruner + Jahr (Parents, Family Circle, Fitness, Ser Padres and Child), led several recent acquisitions of online marketing services and data analytics firms resulting in the transformation of Meredith’s high growth integrated marketing business, acquired and aligned with consumer digital companies including RealGirlsMedia, a fast-growing online content network, and forged significant strategic global licensing relationships with Walmart relating to the Better Homes and Gardens brand, and Realogy (the world’s leading franchisor of real estate brokerages).  Zieser also leads the Company’s international business initiatives including over thirty-five licensing partnerships with major non-U.S. media partners around the globe.

Zieser is a well-recognized international speaker and panelist on business development and the digital marketplace, and regularly featured in leading trade and online sites including The Deal, TheDeal.com and Silicon Alley Insider.  Zieser has also been featured in Super Lawyer and The National Law Journal.

Prior to joining Meredith in 1999, Zieser was Group President at First Data Merchant Services, a $400 million subsidiary of First Data Corporation.  He joined First Data in 1993 and served in various executive positions.  Prior to joining First Data, Zieser was with the multi-national law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, where he specialized in U.S. and international mergers, acquisitions, venture capital and private equity transactions.  While at Sullivan & Cromwell, Zieser had posts in the U.S. as well as London and Melbourne Australia.

Zieser earned his law degree from Cornell University, graduating magna cum laude and serving as Senior Editor of the Law Review.  Zieser earned both an MBA and a Bachelor's of Business Administration degree from the University of Iowa.