Richard Plepler

Richard Plepler is the founder and CEO of Eden Productions, a film and television production company that announced a five-year exclusive deal with Apple TV+ in January 2020.

Plepler previously served as chairman and CEO of HBO, a position he held from 2013 to 2019, culminating a 28-year career at the company. Under his leadership, HBO greenlit some of their most successful series, including Emmy Award winners Game of Thrones, Veep, Silicon Valley, Big Little Lies, Girls, True Blood, Boardwalk Empire, Newsroom, Barry, Succession, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Plepler also led the creation of the company’s standalone streaming service, HBO Now, which launched with Apple in March 2015. Today, the service represents over 20 percent of HBO’s subscription revenue and is a major source of revenue for the company.

Plepler has received numerous accolades during his career, including being inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame by the Cable Center (2018) and Broadcasting and Cable’s Hall of Fame (2013), and being named Media Person of the Year by the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (2014). He earned the Directorate Emmy Award for his impact on the industry from the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (2015), the prestigious Driver of Change Award at the FT ArcelorMittal Boldness in Business Awards (2015), and the Variety Vanguard Award for contribution to the TV business (2017).

Plepler serves on the board of directors for the Council on Foreign Relations and New York Public Library, and on the national advisory board of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research.