Tuesday Sep 26, 2023

003 Jon Fortt| behind the curtain

JON’S BIO:

Jon Fortt is a media maven, hyper-connector and at the top of the game. Jon co-anchors CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime“ AND is the creator of “On the Other Hand” a clever and informative one-man debate that runs on the network’s “Squawk Box,” He previously co-anchored CNBC’s “TechCheck” and “Squawk Alley”. Our conversation explores the power of communication from one of the best communicators in the media.

He is a world class journalist who has done in-depth interviews with many CEOs including Microsoft’s Sayta Nadella, Amazon’s Andy Jassy and AMD’s Lisa Su. He has interviewed many thousands of leaders and the lessons learned along the way have been formative to him and to those of us that watch him every day on CNBC and it led him to create Fortt Knox - a digital show he launched in 2016 that features in-depth 1:1 interviews with founders, CEOs and world-class innovators. Jon also created The Black Experience in America - an online resource for exploring history and culture. Before CNBC, he spent time at Fortune and Business 2.0 reporting tech, business and financial news. Jon graduated from DePauw University as a Media Fellow and a B.A. in English.

Fun fact: He went to college with my wife who says he was as charismatic then as he is now.

“Media today provides many avenues for multiple perspectives to be heard”

EPISODE OUTLINE:

(0:00) - Intro

(0:38) - Background

(1:50) - Origins and the lessons we carry forever

(3:28) - Interviewing is an art, like jazz; there is structure with improvisation

(4:12) - What makes for a good leader; studying and talking to so many

(5:08) - Two key ingredients in the success recipe

(6:27) - Proudest accomplishment, biggest failure; family, career, real estate

(9:21) - Media’s evolution and the future

(11:33) - Working out; time marches on