Jonathan Klein

Jonathan Klein is co-founder and CEO of the global digital media company Getty Images, Inc., the premier creator and distributor of still imagery, video and music worldwide. Jonathan’s strategic vision has led the company’s growth from an analog image collection with transparencies, laboratories and print catalogs in 1995, to an award-winning, multi-billion dollar, global e-commerce business. Today Getty Images is recognized for having the broadest, deepest and highest quality content, serving customers in more than 200 countries, with plans for continued growth. Through his principled approach to leadership, Jonathan has established a culture at Getty Images that embraces disruption and change. He has driven significant innovations, including new business and licensing models, and inventive technologies such as Getty Images’ API Connect and the social listening tool The Feed. Jonathan has led the company’s broad-ranging consolidation strategy by successfully acquiring and integrating more than 100 collections and companies worldwide, including PhotoDisc and iStockphoto, respectively the pioneers in royalty-free and microstock imagery. He drove Getty Images’ launch into news, sports and entertainment imagery, as well as video, music, digital asset management, rights services and assignment photography. Under his direction, Getty Images has built a comprehensive network of exclusive commercial partnerships with the world’s most prestigious media, publishing and entertainment companies, as well as with dozens of the most prominent sports governing bodies across the globe. After 12 years of trading publicly on the NASDAQ and the NYSE, Jonathan successfully took Getty Images private in July 2008, in partnership with Hellman & Friedman, in a $2.4 billion transaction. In October 2012, the management team, led by Jonathan, together with the Getty family and The Carlyle Group, acquired Getty Images for $3.3 billion. Jonathan is the recipient of numerous media, philanthropic and corporate honors. These include the Suffolk University Sawyer Business School 2012 award for Global Leadership in Innovation and Collaboration, as well as the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’s Business Excellence for Innovation award. Under his stewardship, Getty Images received the first International Center of Photography Trustees Award, for the company’s commitment to the field of photography, through technology and philanthropy, and dedication to the power of photography to create change. Fast Company recognized Jonathan in its “Fast 50” as a business leader who “will change the way we work and live over the next ten years” and he was named number one on American Photo’s list of the “100 Most Important People in Photography.” Jonathan also holds leadership roles in the fields of international press freedom and global health. He serves on the advisory board of GBCHealth and on the boards of directors of the Committee to Protect Journalists and Grassroot Soccer. He is also chairman of Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Jonathan is vice president of the board of trustees of the Groton School and serves on the boards of directors of Getty Images, Etsy, Squarespace and Getty Investments. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Jonathan has spent much of his life in England. He received a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Law from the University of Cambridge. Jonathan lives in New York City with his wife and three sons.