She’s a veteran General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, and Human Resources executive with more than 25 years of experience navigating some of the most complex legal, governance, and regulatory challenges at the highest levels of corporate leadership. Until May 27, this saw her serve as Chief Legal Officer, Executive VP/General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Nexstar Media Group — a role she’s now departed.
In a note posted to her LinkedIn social media profile, Rachel Morgan confirmed that Wednesday was her last day at the Dallas-headquartered company that is seeking to fully integrate its acquired assets from TEGNA but is being stymied by two federal court challenges — leading TEGNA’s board of directors to appoint a new CEO as the company formerly known as Gannett must remain a “hold separate” entity under a preliminary injunction issued in a Sacramento federal court.
“I am grateful for this chapter in my career, as the people, experiences, and opportunities Nexstar brought to my life over the past four years exceeded my expectations,” Morgan wrote. “I’m also very excited for the future.”
That means taking a short break before joining a new company on June 8 — with more details to come.
A former senior leader at AT&T and a seasoned courtroom lawyer, Morgan says she brings “deep trial experience, class action defense expertise, and a sophisticated understanding of enterprise risk.” She’s also directed legal strategy for “transformative M&A,” including the DOJ and FCC-approved rule-busting merger with TEGNA, which is on hold as a group of state Attorneys General and DirecTV seek to unwind the deal.
Morgan’s departure comes after Nexstar on May 12 shared that Nexstar’s senior outside legal counsel, Elizabeth Ryder, was named Executive VP/General Counsel and Secretary to the Board of Directors of the company founded 30 years ago by Perry Sook. Ryder was within Nexstar from 2009 until 2022 and before that was VP of Legal Affairs for First Broadcasting. She’s also been Counsel at Drinker Biddle & Reath, and an associate at Arter & Hadden LLP.
The elevation for Ryder at Nexstar comes as the company also brought new roles to three other senior executives:
- Scott Weaver has been promoted to Executive Vice President of Government Relations
- Lindsey Knapp has been promoted to Executive Vice President of Human Resources and Associate General Counsel
- Jason Roberts has been promoted to Senior Vice President/Deputy General Counsel and Assistant Corporate Secretary.
