Don Yannias was appointed to be the Chief Executive Officer of Encyclopædia Britannica Inc.

Encyclopædia Britannica Inc.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. is an American company best known for publishing the Encyclopædia Britannica, the world's oldest continuously-published encyclopedia.-History:...

 on 4 March 1997, after having become a director in January 1996. He was instrumental in developing the digital (CD/DVD-ROM) and online versions of the Encyclopædia Britannica

Encyclopædia Britannica

The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...

.

In 1999, Yannias was appointed CEO of Britannica.com Inc.

Britannica.com Inc.

The company Britannica.com was spun off in 1999 from Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., which owns the Encyclopædia Britannica, to develop the Britannica as an online resource. Both companies are owned by Jacqui Safra under a holding company...

, when that company was set up as a separate corporation to deal with the Britannica's digital assets. On 19 May 2001, Yannias was replaced by Ilan Yeshua

Ilan Yeshua

Ilan Yeshua is the current chief executive officer of Walla Communications Channels Ltd. , an Israeli web portal, traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange....

, who brought more than 20 years ' experience in educational software and publishing. Yannias returned to his prior career in investment management but remains on the Britannica's board of directors.

Yannias graduated with an MBA from The Ohio State University.