Thomas O. Ryder
| Thomas O. Ryder | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1944 South Carolina, U.S. |
| Residence | Connecticut |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Louisiana State University |
| Occupation | Board Member & Director at Amazon.com |
Thomas O. Ryder (born c. 1944) is an American businessman, investor and corporate board member who has had a long career in the publishing and financial services industries. He currently serves on the boards of directors of Amazon.Com; Interval Leisure Group, Inc.; Quad Graphics, Inc.; RPX Corp, Inc. and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.
Ryder was born in Varnville, SC, but was raised in Alexandria, La. where he attended public schools.
Ryder received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from Louisiana State University in 1966.
After graduating from Louisiana State University in 1966, he was hired as a publishing trainee at Time Inc. and in 1968 became a publishing executive at Xerox Education Publications. In 1972, he joined Vincent Drucker and Frank McCulloch as the founding executive team in Education Today Co. Inc. in Palo Alto, Ca. The company published magazines and books for teachers and parents, including Learning, The Magazine for Creative Teaching. Ryder was President of the company and a member of the board of directors. From 1980 until May 1984 Ryder was Senior Vice President of CBS Magazines.
Ryder served as the President of American Express Travel Related Services International, a division of American Express Company from October 1995 to April 1998.
He had been President of American Express Merchant-Related Services World Wide and had joined the company as President of American Express Publishing World Wide in May 1984.
Ryder served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. from April 1998 to December 2005 and served as its Chairman of the Board from April 1998 to March 2007. Ryder retired from RDA when the company was sold to a private equity firm.
The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. (RDA), a global media and direct marketing company, is best known for its flagship publication founded in 1922, Reader's Digest. The company was founded by husband and wife DeWitt and Lila Bell Wallace in 1922 with the first publication of Reader's Digest magazine, but grew to include a diverse range of magazines, books, music, DVDs and online content. As Chairman and CEO of the company that published the world's most widely read magazine, Reader's Digest, Ryder was responsible for a total global circulation of almost 40 million and well over 100 million readers in 60+ countries, with company sales of nearly $2.5 billion.
In 2002, the company purchased Reiman Publications, based in Greendale, Wisconsin, from Madison Dearborn Partners. Reiman Publications published Taste of Home, Healthy Cooking, Simple and Delicious, Birds & Blooms, Country, Country Woman, Farm and Ranch Living and Reminisce. It was one of the largest magazine publishing acquisitions in U.S. history.
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