Former HBO Chairman and CEO Richard Plepler has joined Apple Inc.
After being with HBO for 27 years, Plepler left eight months after AT&T
Regarding the transition to leave HBO, "New people came in and bought the company," Plepler said, referring to AT&T. "And it was just the right time for me to go on to the next chapter in my life."
Now in 2020, Plepler has turned over another new leaf, going from executive to producer, HBO to Apple by way of his own Eden Productions. The new companies and new direction is a turn for Plepler, but it seems that he's found his next step.
"It was instantaneously clear to me that I had a wonderful and very privileged run at HBO and I wasn't going to be able to duplicate that again," Plepler said. "And I didn't want to try to duplicate that again. It felt very clear to me that I just wanted to do my own thing."
Eden Productions will create select original shows, documentaries, and movies exclusive to Apple TV+. It's a deal Plepler embraced in a short amount of time and one he firmly stands by.
"I thought that Apple was the right idea very quickly, just because it was embryonic enough that I thought maybe, you know, I could make a little contribution there," he said.
Plepler's former HBO (known for successful shows like "Game of Thrones") is owned by Home Box Office, Inc., a subsidiary of WarnerMedia Entertainment, which itself is the entertainment division of Warner Media, LLC (formerly Time Warner), owned by AT&T. AT&T had over $170 billion in revenue for 2018. While an impressive figure, to offer some perspective when it comes to income, Apple had 2018 revenue of over $265 billion.
The new year and decade will have its turn soon enough to show what Plepler is able to do for Apple, and what Apple may be able to do for Eden Productions.
