Sky is the perfect place for keen cyclist van Rooyen. The dedication the sport requires sits well with his straightforward, precise and analytical personality. With a staff of more than 500, van Rooyen oversees the strategic direction of one of the country’s biggest advertisers.
It has been a busy year for Sky, fighting to fend off an aggressive attempt by BT to break its dominance of sports broadcasting. It launched Project Purple, an internal team to scupper BT Sport, and has been pouring investment into its popular on-demand service Now TV.