Elaine Paul
CFO, Strategy & Business Development, Hulu
Former Disney exec Paul works in concert with Hulu’s executive management team to drive growth and efficiency—and the company continues to keep its foot on the accelerator this year as it evolves its business model. In the biggest headline, Hulu announced in August it will end its free ad-supported service in favor of a subscription model that will give it better positioning as it competes with Netflix and Amazon Prime. The move came just after Time Warner took a 10 percent stake in Hulu, and also reflects the service’s push to more exclusive content—a priority for Paul. During her nearly three-year tenure, Hulu more than doubled in subscribers and revenues and continues to invest in new service offerings—like the new digital bundle of sports and entertainment channels streamed linearly and on demand. Expect more innovation in the year ahead.