Patrick Gates

Patrick Gates provides strategic vision for the team that translates Discovery’s network brands and programming into high-quality consumer goods and services sold in Discovery’s own retail channels – including e-commerce, television commerce (t-commerce) and catalog – through third-party retailers, and in emerging retail platforms.

A 25-year industry veteran, Gates’ experience spans retail marketing, merchandising and e-commerce, and he has held senior leadership positions with some of the industry’s most influential brands.

Gates joined Discovery in 2005 as executive vice president of the Consumer Direct unit within Commerce, and helped lead discoverystore.com and the Discovery Channel Catalog to record revenue growth.

Previously, Gates was senior vice president for commerce at AOL Time Warner, leading the company’s direct marketing and retail advertising groups. He was the driving force behind the consolidation of AOL’s brands under one commerce platform, and he pioneered many of AOL’s ground-breaking and profitable e-commerce marketing and merchandising initiatives including target shopping sites and consumer loyalty programs.

Earlier, Gates headed marketing, programming and merchandising efforts for several key product categories at Home Shopping Network (HSN), and served as vice president and divisional merchandise manager at Q2 – QVC’s upscale spinoff. His early career included roles as vice president of merchandising for a number of luxury retailers, including Neiman Marcus, Barney’s New York and Houston-based Sakowitz.

A native of South Africa, Gates attended the University of Natal in Durban, and has completed several strategic management courses at Harvard University. He has been a guest lecturer on e-commerce strategies to MBA candidates at Georgetown University, the University of Maryland and George Mason University.