Patrick Steel
Patrick Steel was most recently the Chief Executive Officer of POLITICO from April 2017 until July 2021. POLITICO was acquired by Axel Springer in 2021 for over $1 billion, the largest digital news sale ever completed. Mr. Steel’s leadership at POLITICO included oversight of global operations, revenue, strategy, and growth. During his tenure, Mr. Steel built an entirely new leadership team, more than doubled the size of POLITICO, drove major geographic expansion in California, Canada, and Europe, launched new product lines, and acquired E&E News, the leading subscription publication focused on climate and energy intelligence. From 2017 to 2021, he grew POLITICO’s revenue by over 20% annually and dramatically expanded operating profit from negative 15% in 2017 to over 30% operating profit margin in 2021.
Prior to POLITICO, Mr. Steel worked at FBR Capital Markets, a boutique investment bank based in Washington from 2001 until early 2017 when it was acquired by B. Riley Financial (Nasdaq: RILY). He held multiple leadership positions at FBR over 16 years including his final role as Senior Managing Director and Co-Head of Capital Markets. From 2007-09, Mr. Steel was based in London where he led FBR’s European Investment Banking team. During his sixteen years at FBR, Mr. Steel raised capital and provided financial advisory services to a wide range of businesses, including the largest REIT IPO ever completed in the United States at that time. He has managed capital markets transactions including initial public offerings and large institutional private placements for companies in the energy, real estate, insurance, financial services, and industrial sectors.
Prior to joining FBR, Mr. Steel worked in the Clinton Administration in Washington from 1993-2001. He served as Senior Advisor on the White House China Trade Relations Working Group and was a Special Assistant to President Bill Clinton at The White House. Other positions included Associate Administrator of the Foreign Agricultural Service and Deputy Chief of Staff to Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Prior to USDA, Mr. Steel was a Special Assistant to Education Secretary Richard Riley.
Mr. Steel holds a bachelor’s degree in European History from the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory from University College London, and an MBA from Georgetown University. He currently lives in Georgetown with his wife The Honorable Lee Satterfield and has two sons Jack and Conor. Since the sale of POLITICO, Mr. Steel consults with global digital and broadcast media companies and guest lectures at numerous universities and colleges. He also mentors start up media companies through the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) Elevate Program which supports C-level journalists across the globe to develop their business skills so that their newsrooms can become sustainable and grow.
