John Gentry, a longtime promoting govt and the chief govt officer of supply-side platform OpenX, died Wednesday night after an extended battle with most cancers. He was 58.
A publish to Gentry’s LinkedIn profile Thursday night learn: “If you’re studying this, it signifies that I’m now not round and misplaced my combat with most cancers. Whereas I’m dying sooner than most, I outlived myself by 28 years, because of a kidney transplant and fashionable drugs, and I’ve had a beautiful life. I’m a fortunate and grateful man.”
Gentry went on to precise gratitude for the many individuals he bonded with throughout the course of his profession, saying “the very best a part of the journey has been all of the superb relationships I’ve shaped through the years.”
The corporate confirmed his loss of life in an e mail to ADWEEK.
Gentry was thought of a trailblazer in adtech, contributing to the innovation of header bidding within the mid-2010s and the evolution of supply-side id know-how.
He was additionally a considerate chief, collaborator, and buddy to many.
“JG’s perception in me modified my life,” OpenX president Matt Sattel mentioned in a press release shared with ADWEEK. “He was greater than a pacesetter to me. He was an advocate, a mentor, and a buddy. JG believed that doing the suitable factor and constructing a robust enterprise may go hand in hand, and confirmed us that it was attainable to steer with each power and humanity, even when it was laborious. In difficult moments, he pushed me to assume larger, act with readability, and put our folks first. His profession and classes will stick with me at all times, and he might be deeply missed.”
A graduate of Northwestern College’s Kellogg Faculty of Administration and of UCLA, Gentry labored on the Walt Disney Firm within the Nineteen Nineties, the place he directed distribution technique for ABC cable networks. He went on to carry numerous govt roles throughout the promoting and monetary providers industries, with stints as a senior vp and normal supervisor at Overture (an early chief in digital promoting acquired by Yahoo for $1.63 billion in 2003), chief income officer of economic providers firm Inexperienced Dot, and president of adtech startup Spot Runner—earlier than becoming a member of OpenX in 2012.
Gentry was appointed chief govt at OpenX in 2020, after years of serving the corporate as an advisor, and later, as its president. He steered OpenX by way of numerous hurdles, together with the disruptive entry of header bidding, evolving privateness rules, and an ongoing authorized battle with Google over antitrust allegations.
