Kevin Mowbray

President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Lee Enterprises, Incorporated

Search every verified Kevin Mowbray interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Kevin Mowbray, president and CEO of Lee Enterprises, discussed the company’s acquisition of Warren Buffett’s newspaper business for $140 million in cash, a transaction completed in March 2020. In an interview, he said local news remains important and that Lee Enterprises has the fastest-growing digital subscription platform in local media. He cited audience growth tied to coverage of events such as civil unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, forest fires in Montana, and the coronavirus pandemic, and said the company aims to grow its digitally only subscribers to 900,000. Mowbray also expressed support for safe harbor legislation in Congress, which he said would allow publishers to collectively bargain with large tech platforms, and noted similar legislative efforts in France, the EU, Canada, and Australia. On earnings calls in 2020, Mowbray described the Berkshire Hathaway transaction as transformational, noting it nearly doubled the company’s audience and revenue and included a $578 million loan with a 25-year maturity. He said the acquisition and the pandemic provided an opportunity to accelerate Lee’s digital transformation, with a strategy focused on best-in-class digital platforms, growth in digital-only subscribers, and new revenue streams such as first-party data, e-commerce, and video advertising. He reported that advertising revenue trends improved in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to the third quarter, and that the company had taken actions such as executive furloughs and reduced capital expenditures to manage cash during the pandemic.