Andrew Essex is the Chief Executive Officer of Plan A, a creative holding company based in NYC and frequent consultant for multiple CEOs and CMOs in myriad industries. He is the former CEO of Tribeca Enterprises, the parent company of the Tribeca Film Festival, and founding CEO of Droga5, a world-renowned creative agency, which was acquired for a record multiple by William Morris Endeavor in 2013 and sold again to Accenture in 2019.
A highly creative strategic executive with 30+ years in marketing, media, technology, events, content, business development, hospitality and M&A, Andrew is a proven entrepreneurial leader and culture builder with multiple exits, high-profile turnaround experience and world-class relationships, skilled in recruiting, retaining and managing talent and overseeing complex P&Ls, and a rainmaker with an extensive track record of generating high-margin revenue, crafting compelling narratives and operating complex enterprises in competitive markets.
Andrew is a frequent public speaker on media, marketing and monetization strategies and sits on the boards of The AdCouncil, iPic Entertainment and Plus Pool. He is the Chair of the NYC Mayor’s Creative Council, and a former advisor to the White House American Office of Innovation and the Wharton SEI Center for Advanced Studies in Management. He serves as an angel investor and advisor to top disruptive companies and prominent unicorns.
He is also an award-winning journalist and cultural editor at such publications as The New Yorker, Details and Salon.com, among others, and has been a television commentator for ABC, CNN and CNBC. He is author of “The End of Advertising: Why It Had to Die and the Creative Resurrection to Come” and co-author of three books: "A Very Public Offering: The Story of the Globe.com,” “Chasing Cool,” with former Barney’s CEO Gene Pressman, and “Le Freak: An Upside Down Story of Family, Disco and Destiny,” with producer and musician Nile Rodgers.