Brian McAndrews
Former Senior Vice President for Advertiser and Publisher Solutions
Microsoft Corporation
From August 2007 through December 2008, Brian McAndrews was senior vice president
at Microsoft Corporation, leading the Advertiser and Publisher Solutions (APS) Group,
responsible for approximately $3 billion in revenue and for building and marketing the
Microsoft Advertising Platform, which includes search, display, first party and network,
and emerging media, including TV, mobile, and in-game advertising. He successfully
integrated aQuantive, Microsoft’s largest acquisition ever, into the company to help create
APS. Mr. McAndrews resigned from Microsoft at the end of 2008 in order to take some
time off before pursuing his next CEO opportunity.
He served as CEO of aQuantive Inc., one of the fastest-growing global digital marketing
companies in the world, from 1999 to 2007. In August 2007, Microsoft acquired aQuantive
for $6 billion. At the time of the acquisition, aQuantive included three distinct business
units: Avenue A | Razorfish (now known as Razorfish), one of the world’s largest interactive
advertising firms; Atlas; and DRIVEpm. aQuantive had 50 offices in more than 20 countries.
From 1990 to 1999, Mr. McAndrews worked for ABC Inc., a broadcasting and
communications company, holding executive positions at ABC Sports, ABC Entertainment,
and ABC Television Network and eventually becoming executive vice president and
general manager for ABC Sports. From 1984 to 1989, he served as a product manager
for General Mills Inc., a leading consumer products manufacturer.
Mr. McAndrews serves or has served on the board of directors for Clearwire; Fisher
Communications Inc., a media company based in Seattle; WhitePages.com Inc.; Blue Nile;
and the Seattle-Northwest Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors.
He earned an AB in economics from Harvard University and an MBA from the Stanford
Graduate School of Business.
In March 2008, he was named Advertising Age’s first Digital Executive of the Year.
In November 2008, he was designated as one of the 30 most influential executives in the
advertising, marketing, and media world in Adweek’s 30th anniversary issue. For the
latter, he joined Oprah Winfrey, Sir Martin Sorrell, and Rupert Murdoch, among others
being honored as a person whose work reshaped business and whose vision will be
felt broadly across these industries for years to come. Previously, Business 2.0 ranked
Mr. McAndrews number 11 in its 2007 “The 50 Who Matter Now” issue.