Liberty Media Names Derek Chang as New President/CEO

Liberty Media, a major shareholder in Live Nation and SiriusXM, named Derek Chang as its new president/CEO, the company announced Wednesday (Jan. 8). He will begin his new role on Feb. 1. Liberty Media chairman John Malone will serve as interim CEO in the meantime.

Chang’s hiring follows the departure of longtime CEO Greg Maffei, who left at the end of 2024 and became a senior advisor to the company. A director at Liberty Media since 2021, Chang has had an expansive career in media, sports and entertainment, including tenures at the NBA, DIRECTV, Scripps, Charter and TCI. He joins Liberty Media from EverPass Media, a sports distribution joint venture formed with the NFL and RedBird Capital Partners. Chang will step down as executive chairman at EverPass but will remain on the company’s board. Prior to EverPass, Chang was the CEO of NBA China from 2018 to 2020.

“I am thrilled to welcome Derek as the CEO of Liberty Media,” Malone said in a statement. “His expertise in both operating and investment roles, extensive understanding of our industries and familiarity with Liberty make him the ideal leader for Liberty’s next chapter. Personally, I have worked with Derek for over 25 years and am consistently impressed by his leadership style, breadth of expertise and global perspective. I look forward to supporting him and the Liberty management team as they continue to drive shareholder value.”

“I have had the privilege of working with John Malone and the Liberty team for many years during my time at TCI and DIRECTV and later as a board member of Starz and Liberty, and I have long admired their track record of value creation for investors and partners,” Chang said in a statement. “Our current focus is clear: optimizing the portfolio structure with the split-off of Liberty Live and supporting the growth of our attractive operating assets, including F1 and MotoGP post-acquisition, to continue their momentum and invest for the future. Looking further, Liberty has always been long-term-minded in its investment mandate yet nimble to move quickly on new opportunities. Both of these things will remain true in our strategy going forward.”

Chang takes over as CEO two months after Liberty Media announced its intention to split off the Liberty Live Group into a separate public company, effectively turning Liberty Media into an independent with holdings in motorsports — including Formula 1 and Meyer Shank Racing — currently housed in its Formula One Group. Liberty Live includes the company’s 30% stake in concert promoter Live Nation, 7% stake in Kroenke Arena Company and 7% stake in Overtime Sports, among other assets. Liberty Media is no longer an investor in satellite broadcaster SiriusXM after merging its Liberty SiriusXM Holdings tracking stock with SiriusXM common stock in September 2024.