Wagner attended Indiana University joining Kappa Sigma Fraternity Beta Theta Chapter. He later graduated in 1983. He earned a law degree from University Of Virginia and then moved to Dallas, Texas where he became a licensed CPA in the State of Texas, and began a legal career with the national firms Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld and Hopkins & Sutter.
In 1995 he joined up with fellow Indiana alum Mark Cuban and the two launched AudioNet, broadcasting live sporting events and radio stations over the Internet, at first with only a Packard Bell 486 PC and a single ISDN line. As CEO, Wagner grew the company and expanded its services to include corporate events and business services. In 1998 Wagner and Cuban changed the name to Broadcast.com and took the company public in the midst of the dot-com boom. The Broadcast.com IPO set an opening-day record, with shares climbing 249% from an offering price of $18 to a closing price of $62.75. In 1999, Wagner and Cuban sold Broadcast.com to Yahoo! for $5.7 billion, making 300 employees millionaires and Wagner and Cuban instant billionaires. Wagner continued to lead the division as Yahoo! Broadcast until May 2000, when he declined an offer to become Yahoo!’s Chief Operating Officer to focus on other interests.
In 2000, Wagner created the Todd Wagner Foundation, and through this Foundation he has developed several programs that are dedicated to improving the lives of at-risk children and inner-city entrepreneurs by increasing access to technology, education and capital.
After meeting with now-California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Wagner in 2001 launched his Foundation’s first children’s program, the Dallas chapter of the After-School All-Stars (then called Inner-City Games), a national program championed by Schwarzenegger that provides year-round technology, academic, sports and cultural programs for children in the nation's inner cities. The Dallas After-School All-Stars now reaches more than 4,000 children with programs ranging from chess and art classes to golf, running clubs and math competitions.
Wagner also created a Minority Technology Fund that provides funding and resources to minority-owned, technology-focused businesses based in Dallas and has made investments in numerous companies including: Imaginuity Interactive, a Web site development firm; Abstract Concepts, developer of African-American communities Ebonymate.com and Dallasblack.com; and rocKnot, a software development firm.
Wagner has also developed the MIRACLES technology, education and life skills program, a groundbreaking initiative that provides a comprehensive after-school program for inner-city children. Structured, instructor-led and outcome-based, this unique program, built from the ground up and managed by Wagner and his team, is currently in its fifth year and is operating in nine cities across the country in conjunction with the national After-School All-Stars. The intense multi-year program begins in sixth grade and continues through high-school graduation.
The Foundation has also provided funding to bring a KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) charter school to Dallas. In Fall 2003, KIPP Truth Academy opened, where students develop the knowledge, skills and character needed to succeed in top-quality high schools, colleges and the competitive world beyond.
Wagner’s philanthropic achievements have earned him several honors including the national First Star “Visionary Award” (2006), the Dallas CASA “Champion of Children” award (2005), the national “Kappa Sigma Man of the Year” award (2003), the Milton P. Levy Jr. Volunteer Award from Dallas' Special Care and Career Services (2008), an honor from the Urban League of Greater Dallas (2003), “Social Entrepreneur of the Year” from Dallas’ Center for Nonprofit Management (2002), and After-School All Stars’ “Man of the Year” (2000).
After getting his Foundation up and running, Wagner headed west to learn the movie business, and in just a few short years has become a recognized major player in Hollywood. He has been a driving force behind several important social and issue-oriented films, including two that received seven total Oscar nominations (Good Night and Good Luck and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room), and has impacted Hollywood through an innovative day-and-date film distribution strategy.
With a goal of bringing meaningful and inspirational stories to movie fans through 2929 Productions (the production division of 2929 Entertainment), Wagner has been instrumental in bringing films like Good Night, and Good Luck and Akeelah and the Bee to the big screen. Good Night, directed by and co-starring George Clooney, struck an important chord in the national debate over freedom of speech and was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture. Akeelah, starring Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett and rising star Keke Palmer, is inspiring a generation of urban youth to dream big.
In addition to 2929 Entertainment, Wagner, with business partner Mark Cuban, also owns a group of vertically integrated entertainment properties that includes high-definition production company HDNet Films (produced the Academy Award-nominated documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room); distributor Magnolia Pictures (released Enron and Oscar-nominated Capturing the Friedmans); home video division Magnolia Home Entertainment; the Landmark Theatres art-house chain; and high-definition cable channels HDNet and HDNet Movies.
Wagner also owns minority stakes in Lions Gate Entertainment and The Weinstein Company, and most recently invested in Canadian film and television company Peace Arch Entertainment. He is a founder and co-chairman of Content Partners LLC, a company that invests in the back-end profit participations of Hollywood talent.
