By Owen Reyes · Republished 2026-05-20 · Originally reported by Richard Horgan on FishbowlLA, 2012
Days after Penske Media completed its purchase of Variety, FishbowlLA noted a milestone in the trade’s long history: its first female publisher.
Then
Michelle Sobrino-Stearns, a 15-year Variety veteran whose titles already included sales director, managing director of features and associate publisher, was named the publication’s first-ever female publisher.
She credited Jay Penske, saying he had won over the staff at his first town-hall meeting with plans to take the business ‘to the next level.’ The promotion was announced at a second town-hall, where Penske promised more changes.
Penske, FishbowlLA noted, could not resist a jab at Hollywood Reporter editorial director Janice Min, contrasting her remark to the New York Times — that she liked Hollywood’s people but did not want to become one of them — with the idea of promoting from within at Variety. The post added that TheWrap and The Hollywood Reporter were also led by female publishers, Stacey Farish and Lynne Segall.
Now
Michelle Sobrino-Stearns’s promotion proved durable. She went on to a long tenure in Variety’s top business roles, rising to president and chief revenue officer as the title was rebuilt into the events-and-video-driven operation it became under Penske Media.
Her in-house ascent also illustrated Penske’s stated approach in the post — promoting from within a publication he had just bought — even as the broader acquisition brought rounds of layoffs elsewhere on the staff.
The milestone itself, a first female publisher at a century-old trade, marked one piece of a slow change in the leadership of entertainment-media institutions over the years that followed.
Original report archived on the Wayback Machine.