Thomas Freston, born November 22, 1945 is an American media executive, finance, and author.
Early life and education
Freston grew up in Rowayton, Connecticut. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Saint Michael's College and an MBA from New York University. Freston began his career advertising at Benton & Bowles, which later merged with D'Arcy. In 1972, after a year of traveling, he moved to South Asia to start a textile and clothing business, Hindu Kush, and worked and lived in New Delhi, India, and Kabul, Afghanistan.
MTV Networks Career
Returning to the United States in 1979, he joined the Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment Company (WASEC), a pioneer in the new field of cable television programming. He was one of the founding members of the team that created the music video channel MTV. As head of marketing, he worked on the "I Want My MTV" ad campaign that helped make the new network a cultural phenomenon. In 1987, he became the president and CEO of MTV Networks, a job he held for 17 years. MTV Networks launched and operated networks including: Nickelodeon, VH1, Comedy Central, TV Land, Spike, CMT, Logo TV, Noggin, and others.
As CEO of MTV Networks, Freston expanded the company's reach, built an animation studio, produced feature films, and developed large consumer product and digital businesses. Popular brands and shows included: Blue's Clues, Beavis and Butthead, The Adventures of Pete & Pete, SpongeBob SquarePants, Daria, The Daily Show, Jackass, South Park, Drawn Together, Crank Yankers, The Fairly OddParents, Aeon Flux, Chappelle's Show, I Love the..., Behind the Music, Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Colbert Report, Wonder Showzen, The Ren & Stimpy Show, The Real World, Dora the Explorer, Rugrats, and Star Trek series (from Generation to Deep Space Nine).
Viacom Career
In 2004, after Viacom president and COO Mel Karmazin stepped down, Freston was named co-president and co-COO of Viacom (along with Leslie Moonves). Freston oversaw MTV Networks, Paramount Pictures, Famous Music Publishing, and Simon & Schuster.
On December 31, 2005, Viacom was split into two separate companies – the second Viacom led by Freston, and CBS Corporation headed by Moonves; both CBS Corporation and the second Viacom were under National Amusements administration until 2019.
In September 2006, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone stunned the entertainment industry when he fired Freston from the position of CEO. One of the chief reasons for the move was that Freston had not moved decisively enough to buy MySpace, which was then the most popular social networking site; instead Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation purchased the site for $580 million. Redstone believed that the failure to acquire MySpace contributed to the 20% drop in Viacom's stock price in 2006 up to the date of Freston's ouster. Freston's successor as CEO, Philippe Dauman, was quoted as saying "never, ever let another competitor beat us to the trophy". Redstone told interviewer Charlie Rose that losing MySpace had been "humiliating," adding, "MySpace was sitting there for the taking for $500 million." Murdoch's company ended up selling Myspace, which had largely declined along with the rise of rival social networking website Facebook, in 2012; News Corp's sale price at the time was $35 million.
Other Media Activities
After leaving Viacom in 2006, Tom Freston shifted from running a giant media conglomerate to a mix of investing, advising, philanthropy, and international media projects.
He founded Firefly3, a media, focused investment and consulting firm. Through it, he invested in and advised, digital media and entertainment startups like OWN, Vice Media, Hark, Kaleidoscope.
In 2007, he returned to Afghanistan to advise and become a board member of Moby Media, the parent of Tolo TV, which became Afghanistan’s biggest broadcaster. His work with Moby also took him to various media start-ups in Yemen, India, and Ethiopia. Beginning in 2010 he consulted with Oprah Winfrey on the launch of her cable channel OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network.
In 2011, he became a board member and advisor to Vice Media.
In 2015, he became a senior advisor to the Raine Group, a merchant bank, focused on media, technology, and telecom.
Philanthropy
In 2007 he became Board Chair of The ONE Campaign, an antipoverty advocacy organization focusing on Africa that was started by Bono.
He joined various boards and think tanks including Moby Media, Vice Media, New America, The ONE Campaign, Imagine Entertainment, and DreamWorks Animation. He is a Director Emeritus at both the American Museum of Natural History and at New America.
Memoir and Other Writing
In 2025, Tom published his bestselling and critically acclaimed memoir, Unplugged: Adventures from MTV to Timbuktu. Known throughout his career as a relatively private figure, he opened up for the first time about the experiences, risks, and lessons that shaped his journey. The book traces his unconventional path—from bartending after business school and traveling the world, to spending eight years running Hindu Kush and living throughout Asia, to leading a 26-year career in media and his ventures beyond Viacom. As part of the book's launch, Tom appeared on the SmartLess podcast and joined high-profile conversations with Jon Stewart, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Moynihan, Jimmy Fallon, and many others.
He also wrote a series of articles for Vanity Fair, Conde Nast Traveler, AirMail, and others.
Personal life
In 1980, Freston married Margaret Ellen Badali. They had two children and later divorced.
In 1998, Freston married Kathy Freston, a former model, self-help author, and health and wellness expert. They divorced in 2014.