We see a bright future.
A candle never loses any of its light while lighting up another candle.
Candle Team
Kevin Mayer
Co-Founder & Co-CEO
Co-Founder & Co-CEO
Kevin Mayer
Kevin Mayer is Founder and Co-CEO of Candle Media.
Kevin Mayer is currently the founder and Co-CEO of Candle Media. He was a former top executive at The Walt Disney Company overseeing its Direct-to-Consumer businesses which included global streaming platforms Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu. Mr. Mayer architected the development and successful rollout of Disney+ that today has over 150 million subscribers. In his capacity as Chairman, Direct-to-Consumer and International, he also led global advertising, content, and channel sales as well as studio distribution and marketing overseas, managing over 25,000 employees around the world and over 60% of Disney revenues. Prior to that role, Mr. Mayer served as Chief Strategy Officer for Disney, where he oversaw and executed major acquisitions including Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, BAMTech, and 21st Century Fox. After Disney, Mr. Mayer served as CEO of TikTok and COO of its parent company, ByteDance, driving one of the greatest disruptions in social media history and helping to steer one of the world’s largest social entertainment platforms with over 1 billion users.
Tom Staggs
Co-Founder & Co-CEO
Co-Founder & Co-CEO
Tom Staggs
Tom Staggs is Founder and Co-CEO of Candle Media.
Mr. Staggs is a former top executive at The Walt Disney Company, most recently serving as its Chief Operating Officer. Prior to that, he was chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide after having been Disney’s Chief Financial Officer for nearly 12 years. As Chairman of Disney Parks, Mr. Staggs more than doubled operating profits while overseeing the company’s roughly 140,000 cast members. While at Disney, he helped lead the purchases of Pixar, Marvel Entertainment, and Cap Cities/ABC. He also served as a member of the board of directors at Euro Disney SCA from 2002 until 2015.
Mr. Staggs is a partner at Smash Capital and serves as a member of the Spotify board of directors. He is also a member of the board of advisors of the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.
Mr. Staggs received his BS from The University of Minnesota and his MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
Doug MacKenzie
Vice President, M&A
Vice President, M&A
Doug MacKenzie
Doug MacKenzie is Vice President, Corporate Development at Candle Media, where he helps drive the sourcing, evaluation, diligence and execution of M&A transactions, and the development of internal growth initiatives.
Prior to joining Candle, Mr. MacKenzie spent 6 years in investment banking with RBC Capital Markets. Most recently, he worked in the Communications, Media & Entertainment (CME) group in RBC’s Los Angeles office, where he worked on a variety of M&A advisory assignments, capital raises, and financings for both public and private companies in the entertainment industry. Mr. MacKenzie began his career with RBC in Toronto, focusing on sell-side M&A advisory for middle market companies in both consumer products and industrial sectors.
Mr. MacKenzie received his BCom (Honours) degree from Smith School of Business at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.
Candle Board
David Kestnbaum
Senior Managing Director, Private Equity, Blackstone
Kevin Mayer
Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Candle Media
Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Candle Media
Kevin Mayer
Kevin Mayer is Co-CEO and founder of Candle Media. Mr. Mayer is a former top executive at The Walt Disney Company where he oversaw its international Direct-to-Consumer business which included launching global streaming platforms, Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu. More recently, Mr. Mayer served as CEO of TikTok and COO of its parent company, ByteDance.
Mr. Mayer currently serves as Chairman of DAZN Group, co-founder and managing director of Smash Ventures, and on the Board of the Forest Road Company and a Strategic Advisor to Forest Road Acquisition Corporation. Mr. Mayer is also an advisory board member at Salesforce and Access Industries. He is on the board of Tinuiti, a performance marketing agency.
Mr. Mayer holds a BSME from MIT, an MSEE from San Diego State and an MBA from Harvard University.
Joe Ravitch
Co-Founder and Partner, The Raine Group
Rene Rechtman
Founder and CEO, Moonbug
Tom Staggs
Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Candle Media
Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Candle Media
Tom Staggs
Thomas Staggs is Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Candle Media, a next generation media company home to category-defining brands including Hello Sunshine, Moonbug Entertainment, Faraway Road Productions and Westbrook Media.
In addition to his role with Candle Media, Mr. Staggs serves as a Member on the Spotify board of directors, the Executive Chairman of Vejo, Inc, Executive Chairman of Bertsch Industries, GmbH, Chairperson of the Strategic Advisory Committee and director of Forest Road Acquisition Corp., Chairman of PureForm Global Inc., and a director of REQPay Inc. and Weta Digital Limited. He also serves on the board of advisors of the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management and the board of trustees of the Center for Early Education.
Mr. Staggs previously served in various roles at The Walt Disney Company, including as Chief Financial Officer, Chairman of Disney Parks and Resorts, Chief Operating Officer, and Special Advisor to the Chief Executive Officer. He also was previously a member of the board of directors at Euro Disney SCA from 2002 until 2015. Mr. Staggs holds a Bachelor of Science in Business from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Business Administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Anushka Sunder
Senior Managing Director, Private Equity, Blackstone
