– All about audio. On this 12 months’s Fortune 500, there have been 9 new corporations led by girls. As mentioned in yesterday’s e-newsletter, most of these corporations joined the ranks of women-led Fortune 500 companies after selling girls from inside to the highest job—with one exception (kind of).
SiriusXM is a part of the Fortune 500 for the primary time after spinning off from Liberty Media in September 2024. That provides SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witz to the cohort of Fortune 500 chiefs; like her fellow feminine CEOs, she was promoted to the job in 2021 after twenty years on the firm (beginning when it was nonetheless simply Sirius).
I dove into the state of the $8.7 billion firm at this time in a function printed within the newest difficulty of Fortune. The corporate is quietly far more attention-grabbing than it appears at first look—it entails every little thing from radio and expertise administration, to satellite tv for pc launches into house, negotiations with auto producers, and even a small enterprise line providing boaters fishing and climate data. The corporate was revolutionary when it debuted within the very early 2000s, promising uninterrupted radio service with out FCC regulation. Nevertheless it was rapidly outpaced by the streaming period; satellite tv for pc know-how gives no knowledge on listeners, making it near-impossible to maintain up with algorithmic customized suggestions.
Beneath Witz, SiriusXM has grown its podcasting enterprise, with promoting now making up 20% of its income to subscriptions’ 80%; it handles promoting for two-thirds of all podcasts within the U.S. Stars like Alex Cooper and Crime Junkie’s Ashley Flowers draw headlines.
Nevertheless it’s up in opposition to some robust long-term developments, from quarterly subscriber losses, to an ageing person base, to even the rise of self-driving vehicles—the place passengers may someday watch video, not simply take heed to audio.
Witz has refocused SiriusXM on the automobile, the place it’s strongest—and has eyes on the lounge as a spot the place SiriusXM may develop. Learn extra concerning the new Fortune 500 firm, its CEO, and the challenges forward in my function story right here.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
The Most Highly effective Ladies Each day e-newsletter is Fortune’s every day briefing for and concerning the girls main the enterprise world. Right this moment’s version was curated by Nina Ajemian. Subscribe right here.
This story was initially featured on Fortune.com
