Elaine Paul
Former Chief Financial Officer, Strategy and Business Development, Hulu
Elaine Paul is the Chief Financial Officer, Strategy and Business Development at Hulu. As CFO she partners with Hulu’s executive management team, CEO, and Board of Directors to drive growth and efficiency at one of the fastest growing digital media companies. Elaine joined Hulu in 2013.
As CFO, Elaine manages corporate strategy and business development, financial planning and analysis, controllership and accounting, tax and treasury, and will soon add an advanced analytics/decision science group under her purview. At Hulu the finance group serves as strategic partners to their business unit counterparts and senior leadership, using data-driven analysis to provide value-added insights and actionable recommendations.
During Elaine’s 2-year tenure, Hulu has more than doubled in subscribers and revenues and is investing in exclusive acquired and original content, marketing and tech/product to achieve significant double digit growth. In addition to its existing Subscription Video On Demand Service and the addition of a Commercial Free service, Hulu has recently announced it will be launching a Digital Over The Top Multichannel Pay TV service offering a bundle of sports and entertainment channels streamed linearly and on demand.
Prior to joining Hulu, Elaine served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Development at the Walt Disney Company where she led various acquisitions, new business initiatives, and strategic investments both domestically and internationally, including Disney’s original investment in Hulu in 2009. In addition to her tenure in Corporate Strategy and Development, she previously served as Vice President, Business Development for the Walt Disney Internet Group where she led a team responsible for developing strategic partnerships and increasing monetization of the online assets of the company.
Prior to her time at Disney, Elaine worked as an Associate at McKinsey and Company and a Financial Analyst at Morgan Stanley and Company. Elaine holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a B.A. in Economics and History from Stanford University.
Elaine has served on the Board of Directors of Starlight Children’s Foundation, has served as the President of the Stanford Club of West LA, and chairs fundraising efforts for Stanford and Harvard Business School. She also has served on the Board of Directors of her children’s K-8 school in Los Angeles.
Elaine is married to Darren Seidel and has three children ages 12, 11, and 8. Elaine enjoys the outdoors, standup paddle surfing, hiking, and adventure travel.