Scott M. Mills

Media executive Scott M. Mills was born on May 12, 1968 in New York City, New York, to Stephen Leroy Mills and Fern Morgan Mills. Mills received his B.S. degree in economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1990.

After graduating from the Wharton School, Mills worked as a deputy treasurer for the City of Philadelphia and as an investment banker for the Lehman Brothers. In 1997, Mills joined Black Entertainment Television (BET) Media Group as senior vice president of business development. Mills was then promoted to the positions of executive vice president and chief officer of operations of BET Interactive, chief financial officer and president for BET Networks, and president and chief operating officer for BET Networks. Mills oversaw the launch of numerous projects at BET including BET.com, BET Mobile, BET’s digital video distribution operations, the CENTRIC channel, and the Content for Change philanthropy program. Mills then moved to Viacom in 2012, where he worked as executive vice president and chief administrative officer and was responsible for facilities and security, human resources, media technology services, real estate, and programming acquisitions. Mills returned to BET in 2018 as president and was promoted again to president and chief executive officer in 2021. At BET, Mills also created partnerships with numerous notable celebrities such as Gabrielle Union, Kenya Barris, Lee Daniels, Taraji P. Henson, and Tyler Perry. Under Mills’ direction, BET raised almost $20 million in COVID-19 relief funds for African American communities. Mills worked at BET for over twenty years and oversaw BET Networks’ programming, ad sales, digital teams, business functions, finance functions, strategic planning, and corporate research.

Mills served on the board of directors for the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Principal Financial, Inc. as lead director, the Principal Life Insurance Company, and the Lincoln Center Theater.

Throughout his career, Mills has received numerous awards and honors including the Frederick Douglass Award from the New York Urban League in 2010, an Outstanding Business Leader Honor from the Riverside Hawks in 2021, the Excellence in Leadership Award from INROADS, Inc. in 2022, and the Cultural Impact Award from the National Action Network in 2024.

Scott M. Mills was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on February 16, 2023.