US TV streaming platform Roku has appointed Louise Pentland as general counsel, replacing Stephen Kay who is retiring later this year.

Pentland joins from The Walt Disney Company, where she was chief counsel for its Disney Experiences business, which covers its theme parks, cruise operations and other consumer products. At Roku, she will be responsible for all legal matters and work closely with the management team. She will assume her new role on 23 July.


San Jose, California-headquartered Roku is a TV streaming platform that allows users to access their favourite channels and media content in one place.

Anthony Wood, founder and CEO of Roku, said: “[Pentland’s] extensive expertise in legal affairs, government relations and corporate governance will be invaluable as we advance our mission to transform how the world watches TV and connect and enhance the entire TV ecosystem.”

Pentland spent just under a year at Disney, having previously worked at payments giant PayPal for more than seven years, most of them as chief business and legal officer. Prior to that, she spent more than 16 years at Nokia, six of them as CLO, having originally joined in 1998 as legal counsel from cosmetics company Avon.


She also currently holds non-executive director roles at Hitachi, Pacific Life and Experian.

Pentland said: “I’m thrilled to join Roku during such an exciting period and feel privileged to be part of a company at the forefront of the streaming revolution. Roku has always been a leader and innovator in smart TV, and I’m eager to contribute to the company’s ambitious future goals in this new role.”

Kay, meantime, is stepping down in November after more than a decade with the company, helping steer Roku through its initial public offering back in 2017. Before joining Roku, he was managing partner of Hogan Lovells’ Los Angeles office.

Wood added: “We thank Steve for his many important contributions to the company’s success and wish him the very best as he prepares for his well-deserved retirement.”

In other recent in-house media moves, last month Paramount parted ways with its GC Christa d’Alimonte, with deputy Caryn Groce standing in as acting GC while the company searches for a long-term replacement. Also in June, TikTok parent ByteDance hired former Warner Bros. legal chief John Rogovin as global GC, replacing Erich Anderson who is taking up a special counsel role with the Chinese company amid a potential US ban.

And in April, Sony Pictures Entertainment hired Disney’s deputy GC Jill Ratner as its new legal chief, replacing Leah Weil who announced her exit in January.