Mark Thompson

Mark Thompson: Profile

Mark Thompson is co-founder & CEO of Richard Branson's Business Innovation & Entrepreneurship Hub for Virgin Unite. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of Best Buy, Korn Ferry, Interwoven (HP) and other global firms. He is Charles Schwab's former Chief Communications Officer, Chief Customer Experience Officer, Chief IR Officer, and Exec Producer of Schwab.com. During his tenure, the company’s customer assets grew ten-fold to more than $800 billion dollars in over five million client accounts and continue to grow during the greatest economic storms in history.

Thompson created the Schwab Leadership Series and worked face-to-face with many of the world’s best global leaders and entrepreneurs – from Richard Branson and Steve Jobs to Warren Buffett, AG Lafley, Herb Kelleher, Michael Dell, Bill Gates, Ford CEO Alan Mulally and Zappos founder Tony Hsieh.

Today, he is an expert advisor on Level V Leadership and Built to Last – transforming how leaders inspire managers to boost sales, innovation and lead change in a volatile world. Thompson did research for Jim Collins and Jerry Porras on Built to Last and Good to Great; during his presentations, he shows how to the principles discussed in Good to Great. Along with Jerry Porras and Stewart Emery, he co-authored the bestseller Success Built to Last. By focusing on Collins’ five levels of leadership, Thompson coaches leaders to get things done fast!

In 2010, the American Management Association published Thompson’s bestselling book – Now, Build a Great Business. He also edited two books for Harvard Business Press – Weathering the Storm and Crisis As Opportunity.

Today, Thompson is an expert advisor on Level V Leadership and Built to Last, transforming how leaders inspire managers to boost sales, innovation and lead change in a volatile world. He has worked with executive teams in 12 industries plus 35 firms. In addition, Thompson is Chairman of the American Express Leadership series for Peter Drucker’s Leader to Leader Institute. He is a member of the Board of Governors for the Institute and is a board member, investor and advisor to 8 companies while serving on the faculty of the World Economic Forum, John F. Kennedy University, and a visiting scholar at Stanford University.

Corporate Experience

• Thompson is a current Member of the Board of Directors and founding investor in Smule.com, one of Apple’s top iPhone and iPad applications companies. He was also Executive Producer of Schwab.com and Chairman of Rioport, which popularized the mp3 audio technology now used in Apple’s iTunes.
• Thompson is a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University and a founding advisor to the Stanford Realtime Venture Design Lab. He has also served on the faculty of John F. Kennedy University and Tony Robbins Business Mastery series.
• He is a faculty member for the prestigious World Economic Forum, a by-invitation-only organization comprised of the top 1,000 executives in the world.
• He is the producer & host of the Leadership Dialogue Series sponsored by American Express.
• Forbes Magazine calls Mark C. Thompson “a venture investor with the 'Midas' touch.”
• He was a Member of the Board of Directors and on the Nominating & Audit Committees (2000-2004) for Best Buy Enterprises.
• From 1988-2000, Thompson worked with Charles Schwab & Company as Chief Customer Experience Officer, Chief of Staff, Chief Investor Relations Officer, Senior Vice President, Executive Producer of Schwab.com and Chief Communications Officer -- reporting to founder Chuck Schwab.

Angel Investor - Thompson bets his own wallet into change and innovation by investing directly in companies that are on the leading edge of their industries.

• Thompson is an investor in Smule, an app company that created # 1 selling Ocarina, T-Pain and Glee apps
• He is co-Producer with Alicia Keys on the hit Broadway show Stick Fly

Educational Background

In addition to an MBA, Thompson holds a Masters degree in Social Media studies from Stanford University, where he became an investor in Facebook, Baynote, CNS Response, Cancer Genetics, Goldman Sachs Special Opportunities.