Hernan Lopez

Hernan Lopez is an American-Argentine entrepreneur and media executive, best known as the founder of Wondery, one of the most successful podcast networks in the world. Born in Buenos Aires, he moved to the U.S. in his late twenties and earned an MBA from the University of Miami.

Before launching Wondery, Lopez spent 16 years at Fox International Channels. He joined in 2000 as Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Fox Latin America, eventually rising to President and CEO from 2011 to 2016. During that time the business grew annual revenue from roughly $100 million to $3 billion.

Lopez founded Wondery in 2016 with backing from 20th Century Fox. The company's breakout hit Dirty John put it on the cultural map, and by 2019 it was running roughly 80 podcasts, about half of them originals. Wondery raised $5 million in Series A in 2018 and $10 million in Series B in 2019. Amazon announced its acquisition of Wondery in December 2020 in a deal reportedly worth around $300 million, and the acquisition closed in February 2021. Lopez stepped down as CEO upon the close and was succeeded by Jen Sargent.

Since Wondery, Lopez co-founded Danvas in 2021, a startup at the intersection of digital art and physical spaces. In 2024, he launched Owl & Co, a management consulting firm serving media and entertainment businesses. He also co-founded The Podcast Academy in 2020 and established the Hernan Lopez Family Foundation. Lopez lives in Los Angeles.