Danny O'Brien named EVP and Head of Government Relations

Hope Hicks appointed EVP and Chief Communications Officer

NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES, Oct. 8, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- FOX, the company to be spun-off in connection with 21st Century Fox's merger with The Walt Disney Company, today announced leaders for government relations and corporate communications.  Danny O'Brien has been named FOX EVP and Head of Government Relations and Hope Hicks, FOX EVP and Chief Communications Officer.  The appointments were made by Viet Dinh, FOX Chief Legal and Policy Officer, to whom they will report.  Mr. O'Brien will be based in Washington and will head the FOX DC office, and Ms. Hicks will be based in Los Angeles.

Mr. Dinh commented, "Hope and Danny are proven leaders and world-class public affairs professionals.  Together they will define and project FOX's voice to our relevant communities."

The appointments take effect upon close of the Disney transaction and the creation of FOX.

Mr. O'Brien will join FOX from General Electric, where he serves as a senior government affairs and policy executive. He formerly served as Staff Director for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Chief of Staff to Senators Menendez, Biden and Torricelli.

Ms. Hicks most recently served as White House Communications Director and Director of Strategic Communications for U.S. President Donald Trump. In these roles, she oversaw the administration's communications strategy and led a team responsible for creating and coordinating key messages relating to economic issues, domestic policies and international affairs.

Full bios:

Danny O'Brien currently serves as the Government Relations Leader for GE Transportation.  In this capacity he oversees GE's global engagement on commercial and public policy issues impacting GE's aviation and locomotives businesses. Prior to GE, Mr. O'Brien served as a long-time senior advisor in the United States Senate where he was chief of staff to Senators Torricelli, Biden and Menendez.  Serving the three Senators, Mr. O'Brien managed their policy, communications and political strategies.  In the Senate, Mr. O'Brien also served as the staff director for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee where he managed the Committee's policy and legislative priorities in the areas of national security, economic statecraft, human rights and democracy.

Mr. O'Brien holds a bachelor's degree from University of Redlands in political science and Spanish.

Hope Hicks served from January 2017 to April 2018 as White House Communications Director and Director of Strategic Communications. In this role, Ms. Hicks oversaw the administration's communications strategy and led a team responsible for creating and coordinating key messages relating to economic issues, domestic policies and international affairs. She directly advised the president, members of the cabinet and senior White House officials on strategic communications opportunities and positioning.

Ms. Hicks previously served as Press Secretary and Communications Adviser to the Trump campaign throughout the 2016 presidential election, during which she was responsible for creating and executing the campaign's communications strategy. Prior to joining The Trump campaign in January 2015, she served as the Director of Communications for the Trump Organization. In this role, Ms. Hicks oversaw public relations and marketing campaigns for the real estate, hospitality, entertainment and golf portfolios.

Previously, Ms. Hicks worked at Hiltzik Strategies, a firm specializing in crisis management, brand building for high-profile individuals and corporate communications for clients at the intersection of celebrity, media, finance, technology and sports. Prior to this, she worked for the Zeno Group, a DJE Holdings company, as an assistant account executive working on consumer PR, earned media and social media campaigns for major consumer brands and publicly traded companies.

Ms. Hicks earned a BA in English from Southern Methodist University.

About 21st Century Fox:

21st Century Fox (NASDAQ: FOXA, FOX) is one of the world's leading portfolios of cable, broadcast, film, pay TV and satellite assets spanning six continents across the globe. Reaching more than 1.8 billion subscribers in approximately 50 local languages every day, 21st Century Fox is home to a global portfolio of cable and broadcasting networks and properties, including FOX, FX, FXX, FXM, FS1, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, FOX Sports, Fox Sports Network, National Geographic Channels, Star India, 28 local television stations in the U.S. and more than 350 international channels; film studio Twentieth Century Fox Film; and television production studios Twentieth Century Fox Television and a 50 per cent ownership interest in Endemol Shine Group. The Company also holds approximately 39.1 per cent of the issued shares of Sky, Europe's leading entertainment company, which serves nearly 23 million households across five countries. For more information about 21st Century Fox, please visit www.21CF.com.

SOURCE 21st Century Fox