Chad attended Corona del Mar High School in Newport Beach, CA and after graduation, he went to the University of Southern California.

dMarc was sold to Google in 2006 for $102 million in cash, with revenue targets that could push the deal upwards of $1.2B.

[citation needed] AdForce (formerly ADFC on NASDAQ), founded by the Steelbergs in 1995 and grown into the world's largest centralized independent ad serving and management solution, was acquired by CMGI after going public for more than $500 million in 1999.

In 2009, the SportsBusiness Journal announced their annual "Forty Under 40" list of the best and brightest young executives in sports business.

The publication recognized Ryan Steelberg — a relative newcomer to the sports business world — as an innovator in the field of endorsements.

Others named to the 2009 list include David Berson, executive vice president of program planning and strategy for ESPN; Sarah Robb O'Hagan, chief marketing officer for Gatorade; and Peter Farnsworth, senior vice president of business development for the NBA.

Kafka, Peter, "A New Scheme to Get Web Surfers to Stay Put: Photos", All Things Digital, Wall Street Journal, August 3, 2010.

Ives, Nat, "Making News Sites Stickier With Apps that Summon the Web", Advertising Age, August 3, 2010.