By According to Greg Blatt, the ‘official’ start to his business career began when he moved from New York City to Dallas and began his tenure as CEO of Match.com. However, he considers the gears to have begun their motion a decade prior.
Corporate law and general counsel
Blatt’s first executive role was general counsel at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, a position that took him back to the corporate law work he had previously done at his first position out of college. After graduating from Columbia Law School, he was hired as an associate for Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, one of the top firms for mergers & acquisitions in New York. Describing the eighteen months he spent in the position as ‘intense’, he would often remain in the office for days working. However, he has expressed his gratitude for the learning opportunities he gained on work ethic and teamwork during his time with the firm.
Seeking to expand his capabilities, Greg Blatt next took an associate position at the entertainment law firm Grubman Indursky Schindler PC. Partnering with a number of celebrity clients, he found himself working closely with Martha Stewart, who was in the midst of purchasing the rights to the many brands she had formed over the years. Assembling these businesses under the holding company Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, when it was ready to go public she asked Blatt to lead the IPO as general counsel.
The company made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange, and Blatt spent four additional years at the company as a core aspect of the executive team. As a company with intellectual property and contract rights serving as primary assets, he was instrumental in negotiations and strategy for the business.
Early career uncertainty
Like most children, a career in executive leadership and law were not what he aspired to in youth. He has said that even when he came of age and began attending college at Colgate University in upstate New York he was only doing so because it was the path he had been told to follow in life. He ended up majoring in English and minoring in economics, without putting much thought into what he would use the degrees for after.
Unsure of what to do next, Blatt spontaneously decided to follow one of his friends to Telluride, Colorado and spent the next two years working odd jobs and tending bar while also traveling. He used that time to reflect on what he wanted out of a career, and determined that law would be a practical application for his interests in reading, writing and analyzing.
Leadership of internet companies
Blatt’s tenure at Martha Stewart Omnimedia came to an end when he became general counsel for IAC. The business had assembled a large number of internet companies under its umbrella including Expedia, Hotels.com and Match.com, the latter of which being where Blatt took on his first CEO role.
That transition marked the beginning of an eight year stint of time in which he held the CEO positions for various companies under IAC. He was also CEO of IAC itself for three years, and is perhaps most known for his work building the Match Group and Tinder brands.
Blatt’s career trajectory shows that you don’t need to have all the answers to find success. With boldness and humility, remaining open to opportunities can create a fulfilling career.
