Jim VandeHei is a media entrepreneur and expert on American politics. He is the co-founder and CEO of Axios, a new media company delivering news and insights on politics, business, media, and tech. As CEO, VandeHei hopes to radically overhaul the traditional media business with a forward-thinking approach to the way viewers consume news in the 21^st century. In addition to launching Axios, VandeHei is the co-founder and former CEO of POLITICO, the digital media company that upended and revolutionized political and policy journalism. Called a “media phenomenon” by Washingtonian, the all-politics-all-the-time site has been a major success story since its launch. In his nine years at the publication’s helm, VandeHei was a chief architect of both the site’s editorial and business models, and expanded the publication into Europe, where it was named the most influential publication on the continent for top government officials. In 2017Vanity Fair magazine named VandeHei to its “New Establishment List,” the magazine’s annual compilation of industry titans. Also this year, Entrepreneur magazine named him one of the year’s “50 Most Daring Entrepreneurs.” Before founding POLITICO, VandeHei spent more than a decade covering the power politics of Washington. He cut his teeth at Roll Call, where he routinely broke exclusive national stories. He moved to the Wall Street Journal in the late 1990s, and then the Washington Post in 2002.

Session: Thursday General Session, April 16 at 9:30 a.m.