Jason Alan Kilar (/ˈkaɪlər/;[1] born April 26, 1971) is an American businessman. He is a member of the boards ofWealthfront andRoblox, and wasCEO ofWarnerMedia, from May 2020 to April 2022.[2] He was previously a five-year board member ofOpendoor and was anAmazon executive. Kilar is a co-founder ofVessel, and ofHulu.
Kilar was an executive atAmazon from 1997 to 2006, including as the senior vice president of its worldwide application software division.[6] He helped found the streaming companyHulu in 2007 and became itsCEO.[7] On January 4, 2013, he announced his resignation from the company after five years, together with Hulu CTO Rich Tom.[8] The next month, Kilar joined the board of directors forDreamWorks Animation.[9]
On April 1, 2020, WarnerMedia then-CEOJohn Stankey announced that Kilar would be assuming his CEO role effective May 1, 2020, and that Kilar would be reporting to Stankey, set to remainCOO ofAT&T.[12] On April 24, 2020, it was announced that Stankey would become CEO of AT&T on July 1, 2020.[13]
In December 2020, Kilar announced that Warner Bros. films released in 2021 would be released onHBO Max at the same time as they were released in theaters. The prior practice was to release films to theaters for a 90-day period before releasing them in other formats.[14] The move was decried by many in Hollywood, includingChristopher Nolan andDenis Villeneuve, while also being described as plainly violating the contractual rights of some of those who worked on the films.[15][16][17] In March 2021, Kilar drew more ire by claiming that theCOVID-19 pandemic was "really good for ratings" in conversation withFox Corporation'sLachlan Murdoch.[18] He later apologized for making this comment and added that "I would like nothing more than for this pandemic to be well behind us".[19]
Kilar announced on April 5, 2022, that he would be stepping down as the WarnerMedia CEO, amid themerger of WarnerMedia andDiscovery, Inc.[20]
