Ben Crawford

CEO, Board Member, Senior Advisor and Writer/Producer

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With over 30 years of demonstrated achievement, Ben has led public, private and not-for-profit organizations and projects to record success. He has established a history of building and scaling-up internet services, media and entertainment, and art-related businesses. His expertise include IPO’s and public markets, global scale-ups and M&A, fundraising and managing international teams to reach their maximum effectiveness to meet investor ROI and ESG expectations.

From 2009 to 2022 Ben Crawford was CEO and Director of CentralNic Group PLC, a technology company he successfully IPO-ed and grew from $2M in revenues to $728M, completing 21 acquisitions and achieving year-on-year organic growth of over 60%. His earlier roles included Founding President of Louise Blouin Media, Managing Director of SportBusiness Group, and Executive Producer of the official website of the Olympic Games.

Since 2001 Ben has also held the role of Chairman and Principal Advisor of his own firm, Ben Crawford Consulting, serving such clients as Conde Nast International, Amazon Prime channel IndiePix Unlimited, The Ovation Channel, and the DotArt domain name registry, among others.

Ben is currently Senior Adviser to Voyage Media, a leading provider of script and project development for the podcast, television and motion picture industry.

Ben Crawford photo

20+ years in the internet industry

Ben first became involved with the internet in the mid-1990s, leading teams of contractors providing content for Microsoft and IBM. He was co-Executive Producer of Olympics.com, the official website of the Sydney Olympic Games, which became the highest trafficked website of the twentieth century. Before joining CentralNic, he was Managing Director of London-based SportBusiness Group and founding President of New York—based Louise Blouin Media.

Writing + Engagements

Ben is also an experienced journalist published in T: The New York Times Style Magazine and its associated website, Luxury Travel magazine, Robb Report, Politico, and other publications. In recent years, he has been published in thought-leading publications including Forbes and the South China Morning Post, frequently interviewed including on the BBC and CNBC, and been invited to participate at various high-level speaking engagements such as the World Economic Forum and the Copenhagen Democracy Summit.

Ben Crawford speech
Ben Crawford

Recent Writing

forbes

“How Broadband Infrastructure Can Help Tackle Climate Change”

07.10.2022

Forbes article

The digital divide and climate crisis are global issues but have a disproportionate impact on developing countries. I was interested to come across a report by Teddy Woodhouse for The Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI), an initiative of Tim Berners-Lee’s World Wide Web Foundation, that showed how sustainably closing the internet connectivity and usage gaps in low- and middle-income markets can also help in the fight against global warming.

“There is only one world: Notes from the Copenhagen Democracy Summit”

12.07.2022

I recently had the great pleasure of speaking at The Copenhagen Democracy Summit, joining Wolfgang Niedermark, Executive Board member for The Federation of German Industries, on a panel moderated by Telia Company’s Rachel Samrén, discussing the responsibility of businesses in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“Overcoming Organisational Inertia for a More Sustainable Future”

30.03.2022

I recently had the pleasure of taking part in the panel discussion “Climate Change Solutions vs Organization’s Inertia” at the Horasis USA event. Moderated by the extraordinary polyglot journalist Martina Fuchs, the panel brought together a diverse range of speakers from the business, not-for-profit and investment sectors to discuss the tangible impact of climate summits such as COP and the wins and losses in climate action since the milestone signing of The Paris Agreement at COP21 in 2015.

forbes

“Digital Inclusion And The Usage Gap: How Tech Companies Can Work Toward Closing The Digital Divide”

12.01.2022

Forbes article

Over the years, we’ve seen how mobile internet has emerged as the dominant connectivity method for long-standing and novice internet users. Yet, despite this, 3+ billion people are still not using mobile internet even though they technically could — an issue termed the "usage gap". Considering these statistics, it’s clear to me that governments and businesses must begin to deliver on a whole host of other aspects that will help translate internet availability into tangible social and economic benefits.

forbes

“Productivity Anywhere: How The Hybrid Model Can Rewrite The Future Of Work”

27.10.2021

Forbes article

I can personally testify to the power of the productivity anywhere model as I have lived it myself for many years. As virtual-forward teams become more common and global in scope, the factors that have powered my own productivity anywhere lifestyle — which includes informed yet versatile guidelines and an emphasis on collaboration — can be utilized by firms to build a thriving and resilient hybrid culture.

“Why have we all failed to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 9.c?”

01.10.2021

The launch of the SDGs was an unprecedented example of civil society, tech, and government coming together for widespread global change. Still, the world has fallen appallingly short of realising Target 9.c, which specifically addresses the internet: “Significantly increase access to Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and strive to provide universal and affordable access to the internet in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) by 2020.

“Business Should Play a Greater Role at Future Environmental Meetings”

28.02.2021

In 2022, a deeper commitment to global climate goals must remain high on the agenda. While government regulation and corporate responsibility have so far attempted to work in tandem to tackle the climate crisis, I am hopeful that we’ll begin to see much stronger multi-stakeholder commitments. This year’s environmental meetings could become powerful incubators to promote public-private climate initiatives.