20 Things You Didn’t Know About James E. Meyer
James E. Meyer is the CEO of Sirius XM. He stands at the helm of one of the largest communications companies in the world today. His journey to this position is one that sets an example for young businessmen and women who have a strong desire to achieve a similar position of rank and power in the business world. Meyer went about building his career the good old fashioned way through making good choices and hard work. Here are 20 things that you didn’t know about James Meyer and you might find some of them to be inspiring.
1. He went to college out of high school
After graduating from high school, Jim went on to attend college in preparation for his career in business. He was interested in economics along with administrative and leadership aspects of running a company in the tech industry. He enrolled in courses at St. Bonaventure University where he earned his bachelor of science degree in economics. He continued at the same university to gain yet further knowledge and mastery in business administration, earning his Masters of Business Administration degree.
2. Mr. Meyer started out in management
James began his career working in senior management for two well-known companies. His first positions were at General Electric in senior management positions and with RCA also. His master’s degree qualified him for these elevated positions which are significantly higher than entry-level jobs and this gave him a leg-up on his career in the business world.
3. He knew how to strategically build his career
James E. Meyer had a plan for his professional life and he embarked on a journey that included incrementally building his knowledge and skill bases to secure more lucrative positions within the communications industry. When the opportunity to secure a more responsible and higher-level position arose, he moved on wherever he had to go to continue his forward career progression. We will see a pattern emerging throughout his long and successful career in management that has culminated in a top executive leadership capacity.
4. He spent 25 years in senior management
There is a distinction between senior management and executive leadership. James Meyer put in 25 years of his career in senior management positions. After leaving RCA, he accepted a position with Thomson Multimedia Corporation, which is a global leader in consumer electronics. Meyer was assigned to the Digital Media Solutions division where he served as the Senior Executive Vice President. He had total responsibility for the Business Unit serving the content, broadcast and entertainment industries. Securing this position took him up yet another level in management. While there, he gained yet more insights into how a variety of sectors within the broader scope of communications and related industries was run from a management perspective. In all, he had spent two and a half decades in senior management jobs.
5. He sits on the Board of his alma mater
Jim Meyer’s alma mater is Saint Bonaventure University which is a private Franciscan Catholic school It’s located in Allegany, New York. The school is not that large but it is fully accredited. Meyer returned to the institution after establishing a solid and stable reputation as a leader in the business world, to pay back the benefits he received from the school by serving as a member of its board of directors. He offers advisement which is highly valued by other members, in matters of economics, finance, and strategic planning for the institution. It’s an honor to sit on the board, but the school is also privileged to have his expertise in business matters. What makes this even more special is that he earned both of his academic degrees from St. Bonaventura and is now back as proof that they offer students a quality education that can enhance success in gaining meaningful employment after graduation.
6. He is a director at Charter Spectrum
In the summer of 2018, Meyer was appointed to the Charter board of directors. He serves as a director who assists in making weighty decisions for the company by lending his expertise about strategic planning for the direction that Charter will take in various aspects of the operation of the business including mergers and acquisitions, hiring and firing of the leadership, expansion and more. At Charter, he is a member of the nominating and corporate governance team.
7. James Meyer is a director at the TiVo Corporation
Meyer also serves on the board of directors in the position of director of the TiVo Corporation. He joined them when the merged company was still in operation as the Rovi Corporation. This is an American based technology company with its headquarters in San Jose, California that is concerned with licensing of its intellectual property in the consumer electronics arena which includes metadata, electronic program guide software, and digital rights management.
8. He was a director of Pandora Media
Mr. Meyer also served as a director for Pandora Media Inc throughout February of 2019. Pandora Media is a subsidiary company under the larger umbrella of Sirius XM Satellit Radio. It is a music streaming specializing in automated music recommendation with services offered through internet radio with its headquarters located in Oakland, California.
9. James E. Meyer is a responsive leader
Even though Mr. Meyer is a very busy executive, he takes the time to hear what his listening audience has to say and he is responsive. The powers that be at Sirium XM made the decision to take a popular station off of their lineup. This displeased a great many listeners who were disappointed when their favorite programming was no longer available. One of the listeners started a petition to have the station reinstated. After collecting more than 1,100 signatures on the petition, it was presented to Mr. Meyer. It’s unclear whether he made the decision for reinstatement or took it to a team of decision-makers, but he responded to the request for action and granted the wishes of this group of listeners and they celebrated the victory as he had the channel reinstated. He is the kind of executive that takes the time to hear what consumers are saying and respond to their requests whenever possible.
10. Meyer actively trades stocks
We were interested in knowing if Mr. Meyer was active in stock market trading so we checked available information through marketwatch.com to discover that there is some insider trading going on with his stock investments.Jim’s last activities occurred in November of 2019 on the 7th with three transactions. He traded 5,476,605 shares at $6.8 per share for a total of $37,240,914 and on the same date we saw a transaction for the disposition of 1,523,395 shares at $6.81 per share for $10,374,320 and the third transaction for Derivative/Non-derivative transaction of 7 million shares at $3.9 per share for a transaction of $27,300,000.
11. He is paid for his service to TiVo
Mr. Meyer serves as n Independent Chairman of the Board of TiVo. We recently learned that this is yet another revenue source for Mr. Meyer as he is paid an annual sum of $257,555 for his service. There are six other members of the board who are paid more than him. Meyer has served in this position with TiVo since 2015. He is 64 years old and there are 3 executives at TiVo who are older than him and 8 that are younger. The highest-paid executive on the board is Raghavendra Rau who receives $2,832,140 annually in compensation.
12. He was President of another company prior to working at Sirius XM
In January of 2002, Mr. Meyer was named as the President of Aegis Ventures Inc. This is a private equity firm in the financial industry. Mr. Meyer’s degree in economics and his MBA uniquely qualified him for the leadership role that he occupied in this company. He remained with Aegis Ventures until May of 2004.
13. He worked his way up at Sirius
We learned that Mr. James E. Meyer joined Sirius XM in My of 2004 when he left his post as President of Aegis Ventures. There is no gap in his employment history and this is to his credit. His first position was with Sirius XM Radio Inc as President: Sales & Operations. He was again appointed to the same position in August of 2008. In December of 2012, he was named as the Interim CEO of Sirius XM Radio Inc. through April of 2013. He became a fully recognized Chief Executive Officer at Sirius in April of 2013 until November of 2013 when internal changes to the organization made him the CEO of Sirius XM Holdings Inc. He is still active in this leadership role.
14. He has a 72% approval rating
We checked with Glassdoor.com to find out more about how the workers at Sirius XM feel about Mr. Meyer’s leadership. We discovered that he has an overall approval rating of 72%. While there are some employees and former employees who weighed in and were not pleased with the politics, the majority give him high ratings for creating a fun and enjoyable work environment. It appears that it’s kept casual and comfortable. Workers are happy with the work environment, the benefits, co-workers and annual bonuses.
15. Meyer celebrates staff with company-sponsored events
Under James Meyer’s leadership, Sirius XM provides employee appreciation events to show workers that the work that they perform is truly appreciated by the leadership. It sponsors regular events which include summer barbecues, ice cream socials, Halloween Costume parties, and other holiday events.
16. He recognizes the importance of volunteerism
Mr. Meyer believes that it is important to give back to our local communities. He extends this to the staff at Sirius XM and all of its subsidiary companies to ensure that workers are given a paid day off if they would like to volunteer to help out at a local organization. This is just one of the ways that Sirius XM gives back to the community.
17. Sirius cares about employee safety
We also discovered that Sirius XM, under Meyer’s leadership has a conscience and that it shows a deep and abiding concern for the safety of its workers. There are times when the weather makes it difficult or even unsafe to travel from home to work. When these situations arise, instead of missing a day at work, Sirius XM allows its employees to work from their own homes when the circumstances make it possible.
18. James E. Meyer is a high paid executive
Meyer has spent decades of his life working hard and climbing the ladder of success in the communications industry. He has finally landed in a high paying leadership position that brings with it a load of heavy responsibility. However, he is well-paid for his efforts. We were curious about his annual salary and when we checked it out we learned that he receives a base salary of $8,000,000 per year at Sirius XM Holdings Inc, as of 2018. With all of the other bonuses, benefits and other types of compensation included, he makes a total of $17,633,953 a year.
19. He is an example for young leaders
There are a lot of different ways to make it to the top in the business world, but Jim Meyer has set an excellent example of how it is done practically and methodically. He began by laying a solid foundation through education and learning what he needed to know to start. He worked diligently and moved in a progressive manner learning at one job and progressing to a higher level of responsibility as his skills increased.
20. He is a private person
Although Jim is constantly in the spotlight because of his high ranking executive job, he maintains a low profile in his personal life. He values his privacy and the privacy of his family. This is why you won’t find much information about them in gossip columns.
