NEW YORK (TIP): Indian American entrepreneur Manoj Bhargava has been named interim CEO of Arena group, publisher of Sports Illustrated just weeks after the magazine was accused of publishing articles generated by artificial intelligence. He replaces Ross Levinsohn, who was terminated “to improve the operational efficiency and revenue” of the company, Arena Group announced Dec 11.
Bhargava’s appointment comes amid a wider purge of a number of senior executives including operations president and COO Andrew Kraft at the company since the scandal broke.
Bhargava is founder and CEO of Innovations Ventures, the company known for producing the 5-hour Energy drink. He bought a majority stake in Arena Group, publisher of more than 265 brands, including Sports Illustrated, TheStreet, Parade Media, Men’s Journal, and HubPages, in August.
Bhargava has “experience in media and a track record for strong branding, and has made his fortune selling the popular caffeine brand,” Forbes then noted.
The Lucknow-born Bhargava moved with his family to the US as a teenager, settling in a poor Philadelphia neighborhood, The Wall Street Journal said in a November 2015 profile.
He attended the prestigious Hill School, prior to enrolling at Princeton. But he never earned a college degree. He dropped out and, after holding a string of odd jobs, returned to India to become a monk.
This is where his “real education began,” he told The Journal. After more than a decade at the monastery, he moved back permanently to the US. He worked a number of odd jobs ranging from a taxi driver to a printing press operator. It was in 1990 that he would start his first company, a plastics company, that he built and sold to a private equity firm.
In 2004, Bhargava was at a trade show and came across an energy drink. He dreamed of an energy drink without sugar, unknown stimulants, and with less fluid ounces. Out of his planning, he created a small, 2.49-ounce bottle, that provided 5 hours of energy.
“Everyone asks, how did you do that,” he told The Journal. “I tell them, we weren’t that smart. We just didn’t do dumb stuff… and that pretty much differentiated us from all other corporations.”
Besides Innovations Ventures LLC, Bhargava has founded and leads Simplify Inventions LLC, IV Media LLC and Bridge Media Networks LLC.
He also owns or is a major investor in several other companies, including HANS Premium Water, Diagnostic Green, Stage2 Innovations, and Bleecker Street Entertainment.