John Oxendine
Chairman, President and CEO
Mr. Oxendine has been an entrepreneur, operator, investor and lender in the communications industry for over 30 years. In these positions, Mr. Oxendine has been responsible for selecting, investigating, performing due diligence, analyzing, structuring, negotiating and closing on potential investments for the companies he has owned, operated and served. Mr. Oxendine has provided portfolio management and administrative services to these companies, including monitoring the performance of their portfolio companies, developing exit strategies, and advising them regarding the disposition of investments.
Mr. Oxendine is currently Chairman, President and CEO of Blackstar, LLC and Blackstar LP, both management companies which provide consulting and management services to the communications industry.
Mr. Oxendine served as interim CEO and a member of the Board of Directors of Equity Media Holdings Corporation ("EM") from June 2008 through January 2009. EM was a publicly held media company that divested its assets in April 2009. In addition, he served as Chairman, President and CEO of Blackstar Communications, Inc. ("BCI"), a company he formed in 1987 that acquired, owned and successfully operated commercial television stations in the U.S. Mr. Oxendine formed BCI with an original investment of $100,000 in common equity and $5 million in preferred equity, and eventually bought 5 television stations at a cost of nearly $30 million. When the sale of all the stations was completed to USA Broadcasting, Inc., in 1998, the total sale value was $96 million, yielding a significant return on investment of over $35 million to Mr. Oxendine and his investors, which included Fox Television Stations Inc. ("FOX"), and Home Shopping Network, Inc. ("HSN").
From 1981-1995, Mr. Oxendine served as President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Broadcap Capital, Inc. ("Broadcap") and its then parent company, Broadcast Capital Fund, Inc. ("BCFI"). As Chairman and President of Broadcap and BCFI, Mr. Oxendine oversaw the companies' strategic development, management, capital raising efforts, portfolio-company monitoring, and all investment decisions. Under Mr. Oxendine's leadership, Broadcap and BCFI committed approximately $17 million to over 47 companies to acquire or construct broadcast properties, leveraging total capitalization in these companies to an amount of nearly $80 million.
Mr. Oxendine was also a member of the board of directors of Paxson Communications Corporation, a large publicly held media company, and Lockhart Companies Incorporated, primarily a real estate company. In addition, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps on active duty from July 1967 to December 1968 and in the active reserve from December 1968 to July 1973.
He has written several articles on venture capital and media investing that have been published in the Bar Association Law Journal, Duke University Law Review, Journal of Minority Business Finance, and Sound Management.
Mr. Oxendine earned an M.B.A. from Harvard University, Graduate School of Business in 1971. He received a B.A. in Political Science and Sociology from Hunter College in 1965. He has a working knowledge of Spanish and French, and some familiarity with Russian.