Zaslav is the CEO of Discovery Communications, which owns cable channels like The Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and TLC.

Zaslav's career in television seemed unlikely after he earned a degree from Boston University School of Law with honors and worked as an attorney at LeBouef, Lamb, Leiby & MacRae. However, he transitioned into television when he joined NBC in 1989, quickly becoming an instrumental developer of CNBC in 1989 and MSNBC in 1996. He was promoted to President of Cable and Domestic TV and New Media Distribution, where his responsibilities included overseeing programming on all of NBC's sister networks from Bravo to USA and creating alternative viewing programs like video-on-demand. After almost twenty years with NBC, Zaslav moved to Discovery Communications. In his tenure, Discovery began trading as a public company, and Zaslav has increased viewership on the Discovery Channel and transformed TLC into a female-targeted powerhouse. All of his decisions haven't been perfect, though: Zaslav was a key member in founding OWN: the Oprah Winfrey Network, which has repeatedly underwhelmed viewers. [Image via Getty]