James W. “Jimmy” Barge has been the Chief Financial Officer of Lionsgate since October 2013. He has oversight of all financial operations, planning and strategy, investor relations and information technology. Barge is instrumental in driving all financial aspects of corporate transactions and other strategic initiatives. He is also responsible for establishing and overseeing Lionsgate’s capital structure. Barge is a member of the Company’s Executive Committee, reporting to Chief Executive Officer Jon Feltheimer.
In May 2025, the Company separated its Lionsgate studio and STARZ businesses into two separate, standalone companies with Lionsgate trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LION as one of the world’s largest pure play publicly-traded content companies. Barge oversaw the structural design of the separation and all financial aspects, including an approximately $300 million equity raise and refinancing the Lionsgate Studios and STARZ capital structures to pave the way for separation. He also played an integral role in Lionsgate’s acquisition of the global entertainment platform eOne, orchestrating all aspects of the deal financing.
Before joining Lionsgate, Barge served as the Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of Viacom, Inc. (serving as its Executive Vice President, Controller, Tax and Treasury from January 2008 to October 2010), where he was responsible for overseeing all aspects of the company’s global finances and capital structure, as well as information technology and risk management. Prior to joining Viacom, Barge served as Senior Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer (from October 2002 to December 2007) and Vice President and Controller (from February 2000 to October 2002) of Time Warner Inc., where he was responsible for the company’s overall financial planning, reporting and analysis, including budgeting and long-range planning, and led several shared service and global process improvement initiatives. Barge joined Time Warner in March 1995 as Assistant Controller.
Previously, Barge held several positions at Ernst & Young, including Area Industry Leader of the Consumer Products Group and National Office Partner, where he was responsible for the resolution of SEC accounting and reporting issues. He also was nominated and selected for a two-year fellowship program in the SEC’s Office of the Chief Accountant.
Barge is the lead Independent Director, Chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the Nominating and Governance Committee of Scholastic Corporation, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books.