Charly Classen

Charly has built his career over 20 years, spanning the worlds of media, TV, sports, private equity, the charity sector and sports.

Charly joined the Special Olympics GB board in July 2019 and took on the role of Vice Chair in 2020.

At ESPN Charly was General Manager – Europe, Middle East and Africa, South Asia and Oceania. In his role he was responsible for the growth, strategic guidance, development and oversight for all of ESPN’s business and operations in the region. He was also a member of the Walt Disney Company’s senior leadership team in EMEA and served on the SuperRTL advisory board, a German joint venture between RTL and Disney.

Prior to ESPN, he held positions at Fremantle and marchFIRST.

Charly is a native of Hamburg, Germany who has lived in the UK for over 25 years. He now lives in London with his wife and daughter and dog. He holds a BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University. He is fluent in English, German, Spanish, and Portuguese.