Celebrating the Arts - Dwight-Englewood School

Bob Bakish ’81 (left) with President Cristina de Kirchner of Argentina at an MTV event.
Preparation Paves the
Way for Opportunity
Bakish didn’t plan to become the media
chief executive he is today. He says that if
there is a lesson to be learned from his
career trajectory, it is that solid
preparation and hard work will make
possible a variety of opportunities. His
preparation, he notes, began at Dwight-
Englewood. Though his strengths as a
student were always in math and science,
he now recognizes the great foundation he
received in English and writing. The work is
hard at D-E, notes Bakish, but it pays off.
“You really are working and investing in
yourself,” he says. “I think the primary
thing I got from Dwight-Englewood was a
fantastic education.”
After Dwight-Englewood, Bakish earned a
bachelor’s degree in operations research
from Columbia’s School of Engineering
and Applied Science. It proved to be a
good foundation in real-world problem
solving. He started a job in network
systems at AT&T, but decided to expand
his options. He earned an M.B.A. from
Columbia’s Business School and began a
career of management consulting,
eventually finding his way to marketing
and to the prestigious Booz Allen &
Hamilton firm, in the media and
entertainment division. He had just made
partner at Booz Allen and was “on a
perfectly good career path” when he was
invited to join Viacom. Bakish took the
leap. He says that if you work hard and
make yourself a valued professional, life is
going to present you with big decisions.
His advice: “Think about it, make a
choice, and never look back.”
Another of Bakish’s convictions is that
dedication to work should never take
over a person’s whole life. “Everybody is
replaceable,” notes Bakish. “You’ve got
to enjoy other things in your life.” Bakish
values time spent with his wife, Deedra,
and two daughters, one in high school
and one in middle school. For recreation,
he enjoys skiing with his family, listening
to music, and playing the guitar. Bakish
also makes time to serve on Columbia
Business School’s Board of Overseers
and Media Forum and the Engineering
School’s Board of Visitors.
Moving Forward
On a regular day when he’s not traveling,
Bakish begins his work at about 6:45
a.m. On the drive from his Connecticut
home to the city he’ll make a phone call,
typically to one of the senior executives
running a part of the business in Asia or
Europe. His drive home around 6:00 p.m.
will include another Asia call. It’s one of
the things you have to live with when
running an international business across
multiple time zones, notes Bakish: “The
New York office and the Asia office are
never open at the same time.”
It’s a busy life, but a rewarding one for
someone who enjoys problem solving,
working with people, strategizing, and
implementing in a rapidly evolving global
environment where the answer isn’t
always clear. “I can get bored pretty
easily, and this is not a job you get bored
with,” he says. “I like making a plan,
executing it, and seeing it work. It’s fun
to move something forward.”
In the end, he observes, the fundamental
question for his company, which brings
films from Paramount and award-winning
global sensations like South Park to the
world, is not what the technology will be or
how to navigate the complexities of
various markets, but “How do we make
the best entertainment?” He says,
“People still want to be entertained. And
one can argue that when you look around
at the world today, a little entertainment
is a good thing.”
U2 and Jay Z performing at the Brandenburg Gate, in a special concert produced by MTV.
Spring 2011
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