Former WWE President: The Hard Decisions That Built a Global Media Business | George Barrios | E161

Former WWE President: The Hard Decisions That Built a Global Media Business | George Barrios | E161

From Leap Academy with Ilana Golan by Ilana Golan

June 2, 2026 · 1h 13m

About this episode

George Barrios shares his journey from struggling student to transforming WWE into a global media powerhouse.

Despite his high intelligence, George Barrios nearly flunked out of both high school and college, drifting without discipline or direction. Realizing talent alone wouldn’t build the future he wanted, he cleaned up his act, became obsessive about preparation, and built a reputation for solving hard problems others avoided. That approach helped him rise through HBO and Time Warner before transforming WWE into a global media powerhouse. In this episode, George joins Ilana to share the habits that accelerated his career, the tough leadership decisions behind WWE’s growth, and the mindset shifts that helped him reinvent himself under pressure. George Barrios is the former Co-President and CFO of WWE, where he helped transform the company into a global entertainment business. He is the founder of ISOS Capital, an investment and advisory firm focused on sports, media, and technology. In this episode, Ilana and George will discuss: (00:00) Introduction (08:48) When Talent Turned Into Self-Sabotage (13:12) The Turning Point: Meeting His Wife at UConn (15:49) Fake It Till You Make It: Learning on the Job (23:17) Creating Opportunities After Rejection (33:31) Driving Digital Growth at The…

People in this episode

Host: Ilana Golan

Guest: George Barrios

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: WWE, HBO, Time Warner, ISOS Capital, The New York Times

Places: UConn

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