mark r. goldston, founder and ceo
Mark R. Goldston is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of The Goldston Group in Los Angeles, California, which is primarily focused on venture capital and emerging growth company investing and providing strategic advisory services to a range of companies. He is the Co-Founder and General Partner of Javergo Partners, a strategic advisory firm. He is the major investor, co-founder and General Partner of Athletic Propulsion Labs, LLC, an athletic footwear company based in Los Angeles. Mark is also the Executive Chairman of The Beachbody Company (Nasdaq: BODI) , the premier fitness and nutrition company in the USA featuring such brands as P90X, Insanity, 21-Day Fix, Lift More, Shakeology, Eneregize, etc.
Previously from 2001-2013 Mark was the Chairman, President and CEO of United Online, Inc (Nasdaq: UNTD), one of the world's most profitable internet conglomerates consisting of NetZero, Juno, FTD Group, Interflora UK, Classmates, MyPoints and StayFriends. United Online was created in September 2001 with the merger of NetZero and Juno Online and he made numerous acquisitions of turnaround companies to create the formidable United Online portfolio. Previously, Mark had been the Chairman, President and CEO of the predecessor company, NetZero (Nasdaq:NZRO) from 1999-2001 until the merger of NetZero and Juno Online Services created United Online. He was one of the earliest employees of NetZero, the first Chairman and CEO of the company as a startup and took the company public in September 1999. NetZero rose 82% on the first day of trading to a $3 billion valuation and was one of the first public "unicorns" in the history of the Internet. Mark was the featured TV spokesman in the NetZero TV ads from 2005-2013. During Mark's tenure as Chairman and CEO of United Online and its predecessor, NetZero, Mark presided over a 450-fold increase in revenue from $2 million to just under $1 billion. The company generated a cumulative $1.6 billion in EBITDA, delivered 9 consecutive years and 36 consecutive quarters of record EBITDA and paid $368 million in cash dividends to shareholders. United Online had well in excess of 100 million registered users and became one of the largest social networking, e-commerce and internet access companies in the world. Mark acquired FTD Flowers (NYSE:FTD) for $754 million in 2008, folded it into United Online and conducted a total marketing turnaround of the company and turned it into the world's premier flower company. He executed the tax-free spinoff of FTD Companies from United Online on November 1, 2013 creating two independent public companies. He purchased numerous companies during his tenure at United Online and raised over $1 billion in debt and equity capital.
In the 15 years prior to NetZero/United Online, Mark was the Chairman and CEO of The Goldston Group, President and CEO of Einstein/Noah Bagel Corp.(Nasdaq:ENBC), which he grew from a startup to over 500 stores while taking the company public in 1996, President of L.A. Gear (NYSE: LAG) where he invented the lighted shoe phenomenon and turned the company around, Principal of Odyssey Partners and a member of the legendary Odyssey Turnaround Team, Chief Marketing Officer of Reebok where he helped create the Reebok Pump, Hexalite, DMX, etc., President of Faberge USA, Inc. where he conducted a total marketing turnaround of the company and dramatically increased profitability. Mark was the youngest President of a Fortune 500 consumer product company as President of Faberge at the age of 31 years old. He purchased Elizabeth Arden and folded it into Faberge during his tenure as President. Previous to Faberge/Elizabeth Arden, Mark was the Worldwide VP of Marketing for Revlon Fragrance and Skincare at the age of 28 years old and presided over one of the most dramatic financial and marketing turnarounds in the history of the beauty industry raising Revlon's fragrance market share from 12% to 17.5% and launching one of the first mass-market anti-aging skincare lines.
Mark is one of the world's most accomplished inventors with 120 U.S. and Foreign patents on products ranging from inflatable pump athletic shoes to lighted shoes, energy return systems, spring-based athletic propulsion systems, posture and fitness systems, internet search, internet connectivity technologies, digital media, contextual messaging, NFTs, metadata, etc.
Mark Goldston is also the author of a highly acclaimed business book entitled The Turnaround Prescription, Repositioning Troubled Companies and is an accomplished public speaker who has appeared on CNBC, MSNBC, FOX, ABC, CBS, Bloomberg TV and he has given commencement speeches at The Ohio State University and the University of Southern California (USC) Marshall School of Business graduations and keynote speeches around the world.
He has received numerous awards including the “Most Admired Public CEO In Los Angeles” Award by the Los Angeles Business Journal in 2009, the “Walt Disney Man of the Year Award” by the Big Brothers and Big Sisters Organization in 2007, the “Vince Lombardi Hall of Fame Award For Humanitarian Efforts” by the Boy Scouts of America; the prestigious 2005 “Schaffner Award” from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Business, the “2004 International Entrepreneur of the Year” by UMKC Henry Bloch School of Business; The first-ever recipient of the Ohio State University “Young Professional Achievement Award” in 1993; One of the Top 64 "Most Distinguished Alumni of The Ohio State University"; “The Top Marketer in the USA” and a member of the “American Management Dream Team” by Business Month Magazine in 1989, “Top Executives Under 40” by Crain’s New York Business in 1988 and numerous other acknowledgments by Business Week, Forbes, Fortune, the USA Today and other major periodicals.
Mark holds an undergraduate B.S.B.A. Degree from The Ohio State University with a dual major in Marketing and Finance and an MBA (MM) Degree from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management with a dual major in Marketing and Finance. He is a Life Member of the Northwestern University Kellogg School Global Advisory Board and is a member of the Ohio State University Fisher College of Business Dean’s Advisory Board.