Richard Plepler

Richard Plepler is the former chairman and CEO of Home Box Office, Inc., a position in which he was responsible for the overall management of the world’s most successful pay TV service, which provides the two television networks – HBO and Cinemax – to over 127 million subscribers worldwide. He was named to this position in January 2013, ultimately leaving HBO in February of 2019.

Under his leadership, HBO's original productions raised the bar with some of the most innovative, honored and critically respected programming on television, such as "True Detective" and "Game of Thrones."

As co-president from 2007 to 2012, Plepler, in partnership with Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming, greenlit some of HBO’s most acclaimed and successful series including "True Blood," "Boardwalk Empire," "The Newsroom," and "Game of Thrones," which rank among the top programs in the network’s history. Plepler and Lombardo also shepherded Cinemax's first foray into primetime originals with the popular action series "Strike Back."

Plepler is a member of both the Council on Foreign Relations, where he serves on the President’s Advisory Board and The Trilateral Commission. He also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Asia Society and the New York Public Library and is on the National Advisory Board of the W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University and the Museum of the Moving Image. In 2013, he was inducted into Broadcasting and Cable magazine’s Hall of Fame. In 2014, The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the world's largest and most prestigious annual awards and celebration of creative excellence in advertising and communications, named Plepler Media Person of the Year.

Plepler resides in New York City with his wife Lisa and daughter Eden.