Judith McHale: she has nurtured a relaxed and supportive working environment. Employees say that breeds both strong loyalty and hard work.(Hall of Fame)

Broadcasting & Cable, November, 2004 by Grossman, Andrew

Judith McHale is a diplomat's daughter who spent years of her youth in South Africa, was schooled in the United Kingdom and had a resume that read like one for an ambassador's post as much as for the CEO of Discovery Communications Inc. (DCI). Her foreign experience, she says, "influenced everything I have done in my life." Returning from England to the United States for her law degree from Fordham University, McHale has since 1987 worked hand in hand with Discovery Chairman John Hendricks to build a $2 billion company that operates in more than 160 countries and reaches more than 1 billion subscribers.

Domestically, McHale has overseen Discovery's early expansion into digital cable with the creation of five "diginet" services in 1996. She also...

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