Greg Zorthian has had over 30 years of experience in the publishing industry. His experience with journalism began during his time at Phillips Academy, where he was a writer for The Phillipian. After graduating from Phillips Academy in 1971, Zorthian attended Yale University and Harvard Business School and earned his B.A. and M.B.A. degrees. He has worked at companies such as Time Inc., Magellan Media, BusinessWeek Online and Forbes Inc, where he held positions in general management, circulation, business development and marketing. Zorthian negotiated Time GM’s first AOL partnership and launched eight companies, including Forbes Global – only two of his many achievements. He is currently the Global Circulation Director for the Financial Times. When and why did you first become involved in journalism? Andover was actually my first experience. I wrote for The Phillipian as a sports writer and eventually became sports editor. I continued writing at Yale for the Yale Daily News. I have stayed in publishing and media for my entire career. I knew early on I wanted to be in journalism. I felt it was an amazing experience. When did you become more interested in marketing? After college I received job offer in production with a book publisher and thought I’d give it a shot. What I found was that I was very good with numbers and also very business oriented. I decided to make a career of it so that I could still be surrounded by great journalism. What do you do as a Global Circulation Director for the Financial Times? I oversee the circulation of the Financial Times in all regions of the world. I oversee printing and publication of the newspaper. I also oversee the marketing, publishing and delivering of it around the world. What advice do you have for anyone interested in a career in marketing? Marketing requires both creative skills and quantitative skills. Make sure you get a well-rounded education. You need to be able to understand how strategies are formed and then be able to analyze those terms. It’s a fun area to work in but it requires all types of skills. What were you involved in while at Andover? Well as I mentioned, I wrote for The Phillipian. I was also a member of the wrestling team for three years and managed soccer my Senior year. I also participated in the Washington Internship Program, which I don’t believe they have at Andover anymore. About 10 or 12 of us went to Washington, D.C. to intern our Upper year. I interned for a congressman from New York City, my hometown. It was a fabulous experience. How did Andover prepare you for college and your career? It taught me the value of hard work and the value of being challenged. Also, through all of the work, sports, and everything else, it taught me how to compete. Looking back, is there anything you wish you had done or participated in when you were at Andover? I’m sure there are many things I wish I had done, but my memories are so memorable there is nothing I can look back and regret.
