Dave Habiger

Early life

Habiger was born in Joliet, Illinois. His father is a mechanical engineer and entrepreneur. In the late 1970s, his mother was engaged in the computer revolution and introduced Dave to technology at an early age. He received a bachelor's degree from St. Norbert College and began producing documentaries after graduation.^[1] In 1991 he founded Providence Productions, which focused on funding, producing, and distributing documentaries.^[2][3] In 1997, he received his MBA from the University of Chicago.^[4]

Career

Dave Habiger

He began working with the ex-Lucasfilm team and founding members of Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC) in 1992, where he served as President and Chief Executive Officer.^[5] Under his leadership, Sonic became one of the largest global providers of premium movies and TV shows via the Web and CE devices. He emphasizes engineering excellence and empowering the engineers in an organization.^[6] Since its IPO, the company generated over $1.5 billion in revenue in the digital media category and has been named one of Forbes, Fortune, and Businessweek’s Fastest Growing Companies on multiple occasions.^[7][8] Habiger opened the NASDAQ market in 2008^[9] and 2010.^[10] In 2011 he sold Sonic to Rovi Corporation (NASDAQ: ROVI). He was appointed as NDS Chief Executive Officer in July 2011.^[11][12] Shortly after filing with the SEC for its NYSE-listed IPO, Habiger announced the sale of NDS to Cisco for $5 billion; the sale was closed in the second half of 2012.^[13] Habiger is founder and partner at Silicon Media Partners. He is a Senior Advisor to Silver Lake Partners and a Venture Partner at Pritzker Group.

Habiger has been involved in electric cars since the early 2000s, with ownership in several electric vehicle businesses. He was Chairman for the Chicago Electric Vehicle Commission under Mayor Richard M. Daley's administration. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers.

In 2011, he was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.^[14] In 2008, he was chosen as one of Corporate Leader Magazine’s 40 under 40 business leaders^[15] and regularly appears as an industry expert on major media outlets including: CNBC,^[16] CNN,^[17] Fox,^[18][19] USA Today,^[20][21] TheStreet.Com, and Bloomberg TV.^[22][23] The Hollywood Reporter chose him as one of 2010’s Digital Power 50.^[24] Between March 2009 and March 2011 he oversaw a 2388% increase in Sonic’s market capitalization as the company reinvented its core business, winning an Emmy Award for "technical contributions to the film and television industry."^[25][26][27] He sold Sonic to Rovi Corporation (NASDAQ: ROVI) in early 2011 at a 66% premium - slightly under $1 billion after stock adjustments to the deal.^[28][29] He is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors, as well as a member of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and for the Center for Corporate Innovation. Beginning in 2012, he also served as a board member and then as CEO of Textura Corp. (NYSE: TXTR) until its June 2016 sale to Oracle.^[30]

He is a Member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers.^[31]

He was named President and CEO of J.D. Power on March 21, 2018, with the objective of continuing to aggressively build and enhance the company's data and analytics and customer insights leadership.^[32][33]

Personal life

He holds dual citizenship in both the United States and Ireland. He is married with two children. In 2016, Habiger delivered the commencement address at St. Norbert College.

Philanthropy

Habiger sits on the advisory boards for the Heroic Imagination Project,^[34] the University of Chicago, and the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, which provides entrepreneurial education to young people from low-income communities. He is a member of the board of trustees at Rush University Medical Center.^[35]