Ken Freirich
Ken is a racehorse owner, international philanthropist, retired CEO/Entrepreneur, songwriter, drummer and founder of a music group and record label. A strategic advisor to CEOs of many charitable organizations, he also sits on numerous boards. Ken is not only the founder of the Kenneth Freirich Entrepreneurship Competition at Skidmore College, he funded and permanently endowed this competition now in its 16th year. To inspire more giving in the thoroughbred industry, Ken was the first to make a multi-year leadership gift to Breeders’ Cup Charities.
Awards & Accomplishments
- On Thursday, May 1, 2025 the 8th race at Churchill Downs is the “The Run for the Retired Racehorses”, Ken donated $100,000 to New Vocations, Second Stride, Inc., Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, and Thoroughbred Charities of America (split equally among them)
- Founder of Random Acts of Kindness –Random Acts of Kindness is a music collective that believes in having a positive impact on the world through meaningful lyrics, kindness, and philanthropy.
Career Highlights
Whether endowing an entrepreneurship competition he founded at his alma mater, Skidmore College, supporting disabled jockeys, or donating to Thoroughbred aftercare, Giving back is in his DNA. Freirich, a successful businessman and long-time owner, has been a philanthropic juggernaut for decades, beginning with an entrepreneurship and business plan competition he founded at Skidmore, which he has since endowed. He has brought that same passion to the Thoroughbred industry.
Freirich has been a long-time investor and partner with West Point Thoroughbreds. Through West Point, he was a co-owner of Flightline, the 2022 Horse of the Year, and a few of his current runners include Ewing, the unbeaten winner of the Grade 2 Saratoga Special, and Sandman, the winner of the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby. To Freirich, horses are like family.
Freirich, a retired entrepreneur / CEO / philanthropist, believes strongly in making the world a better place and doing regular random acts of kindness. He is also a songwriter, drummer and has a record label called Better World Records. Freirich owns a minority stake in Sandman through West Point Thoroughbreds, where he has been a long-time partner.
As a seasoned entrepreneur and executive, Ken has successfully started, built, operated and grown a variety of world-class organizations. For the past 15 years, he has helped transform Health Monitor Network into becoming the leading patient-engagement company in the U.S. The company has grown ten-fold since he joined the organization and the employee base has quadrupled over the past 4 years. The company has continued to be the leader in print patient education in physician offices around the U.S. and has now become a digital leader in exam rooms. In May 2019 Ken led the organization through a transaction that brought a significant investment to the company, led by WestView Capital Partners to support and propel it’s dynamic growth. Prior to joining Health Monitor Network, he was CEO of TransLocal Health Corporation, a leading multimedia health information provider to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. Previously, he was president of InteliHealth, initially a joint venture between Aetna U.S. Healthcare and Johns Hopkins, a leading consumer and professional health information, technology and commerce provider. Ken was also an executive with Thomson/Medical Economics and the founder and publisher of The Collegian Magazine.
He attended Skidmore College and completed an Executive MBA certificate program at Columbia University Graduate School of Business, through the Thomson Information Publishing Management Development program. Ken plays drums in a rock and roll band called MedROCK, is an active international philanthropist and founded a business plan competition (skidmore.edu/freirichcompetition/) at Skidmore College eight years ago that continues to inspire him and hundreds of students from a wide variety of majors and countries around the world.
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