Press release
Viasat Announces Appointments of Bill LaPlante and Michael Paull to Its Board of Directors
CARLSBAD, Calif., May 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global leader in satellite communications, today announced the appointments
About this update from Viasat, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"CARLSBAD, Calif., May 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global leader in satellite communications, today announced the appointments of Dr. William “Bill” LaPlante and Michael Paull to its Board of Directors, effective immediately. “We are delighted that Dr. LaPlante and Mr. Paull have agreed to join our Board,” said Mark Dankberg, Chairman of the Board and CEO at Viasat. “Dr. LaPlante brings a wealth of defense and national security experience, while Mr. Paull is a proven leader in the direct-to-consumer digital streaming industry. Dr. LaPlante’s skillset in the defense area is wide-ranging, from technology, to logistics, to global alliance-building, while Mr. Paull’s expertise is similarly diverse within the digital streaming space, where he has successfully led business operations and large-scale consumer-oriented entertainment businesses. These additions to the Board reflect the Board’s commitment to ensuring we provide the right skills, expertise, and diversity of perspectives to support Viasat’s business strategy and future growth.” LaPlante is the former Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, where he was responsible to the Secretary of Defense for all matters pertaining to acquisition, contract administration, logistics and materiel readiness, installations and environment, and the defense industrial base, among other things. At the Department of Defense (DoD), Dr. LaPlante played a critical role in providing security assistance to allies and partners around the world, with a particular focus on Ukraine. Prior to this DoD appointment, Dr. LaPlante served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Draper Laboratory, a research and development company specializing in advanced technology solutions in national security, space exploration, health care, and energy. Paull has more than 20 years of consumer product development, technology, content distribution and acquisition, and media industry experience. He is currently the CEO of RBmedia, the largest publisher of audiobooks in the world, and was previously President of Direct to Consumer for Disney Entertainment, where he oversaw Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, and Star+ globally. Paull played a key role in the Company’s pivot into the direct-to-consumer space, launching ESPN+ in 2018, followed by the launch and rapid global expansion of ...