Fortune has hired a chief technology officer

Fortune took its latest step as an independent company with the hiring of Jonathan Rivers as chief technology officer.

Rivers was most recently chief technology officer at 3Pillar Global, a product development services company, whose clients include National Geographic, PBS and Equinox.

“Jonathan brings Fortune the knowledge and experience we need at this pivotal point in our 89-year history,” said Fortune Media Group president and CEO Alan Murray in a statement. “Over the course of the next year, he will be guiding a transformation of our product offerings. We are delighted to have such a skilled hand on the new team.”

Rivers joins Fortune three months after its December spinout from Meredith Corporation under the ownership of Thai businessman Chatchaval Jiaravanon. The business media brand was previously part of Time Inc., which was acquired by Des Moines-based Meredith Corp. in January 2018.

“I’m excited and honored to be able to join the Fortune family at this wonderful new era in their history. To me, there is nothing better in life than the act of creation, and I am looking forward building our next generation of digital platforms,” said Rivers in a statement.

In his role at 3Pillar Global, Rivers led more than 100 development teams building 150 product lines for the company’s clients, according to a company statement. He also served as interim CTO at Telegraph Media Group where he oversaw the launch of e-commerce platform Telegraph Travel, and as senior director of web operations and customer support at PBS.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.