Jody Gerson is taking a seat on the board of Ancestry.com, the world’s largest for-profit family tree firm.
That’s on prime of her duties as CEO and Chair of Common Music Publishing Group, a task she has held since early 2015, when she left Sony/ATV to turn into the first feminine CEO of a globa main music firm.
“I’m honored to affix Ancestry’s board at a time when the connection between storytelling and identification is extra significant than ever,” Gerson stated in a press release on Wednesday (June 25).
“As somebody who has devoted my profession to serving to artists inform their tales via track, I deeply worth Ancestry’s dedication to empowering people to find and share their very own. By connecting households and bridging generations via private historical past, Ancestry is making a profound cultural and private impression – and I look ahead to contributing to that mission.”
David Kestnbaum, a Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, which owns a 75% stake in Ancestry, known as Gerson “an trade trailblazer.”
“We look ahead to her extremely precious views and contributions as the corporate continues to assist extra individuals join with their household histories,” he stated.
This isn’t Gerson’s solely board seat exterior UMPG. She additionally sits on the board of the Nationwide Music Publishers Affiliation and the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame, in addition to on the boards of plenty of organizations representing social causes, such because the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, Venture Wholesome Minds, and the New Roads Faculty.
Her management inside and past music has been acknowledged via plenty of awards, most lately the 2025 Grammy Salute to Business Icons prize, and the ICMP Ralph Peer II Award for Excellent Contribution to International Music Publishing.
“Jody Gerson is a visionary chief whose transformative impression on the music trade is matched solely by her unwavering dedication to creativity, inclusion, and innovation,” stated Ancestry board chair Mark Thompson.
“Her deep understanding of storytelling and tradition makes her a useful addition to Ancestry’s board as we proceed to assist individuals uncover, protect, and share their distinctive household tales.”
“I’m honored to affix Ancestry’s board at a time when the connection between storytelling and identification is extra significant than ever.”
Jody Gerson, UMPG
Ancestry LLC was based in 1983, producing genealogical knowledge in print kind via magazines and reference books. It launched its on-line service in 1996, and in 2020 it was acquired by Blackstone in a $4.7-billion deal that additionally noticed Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Personal Restricted retain a 25% stake within the firm.
Ancestry says it has 3 million subscribers, 27 million individuals in its DNA community, and a group of 65 billion information. It has round $1 billion in annual income.
The difficulty of family tree databases has been within the information of late, following the chapter of Ancestry rival 23AndMe earlier this yr. The information that biotech agency Regeneron Prescribed drugs can be shopping for 23AndMe triggered privateness considerations in regards to the firm’s DNA database.
Attorneys basic from 27 US states and the District of Columbia have filed a lawsuit to dam any sale of the corporate’s DNA knowledge with out the consent of its customers.Music Enterprise Worldwide