From 1986 to 2010, Beckman served in various executive positions at Condé Nast over a 24-year career including chief executive officer of Fairchild Fashion Media, President of the Condé Nast Media Group and the chief marketing officer of Condé Nast. He was also the Publisher of Condé Nast Traveler, Gentleman's Quarterly and Vogue. He created GQ's Men of The Year, The Vogue/VH1 Fashion Awards and the Movies Rock which was broadcast on NBC, VH1, and CBS respectively.
In 1992, Beckman became publisher, where he was launched the Hot List, the Environmental Awards and expanded The Reader's Choice Awards. Condé Nast Traveler was named to Adweek's "Hot List" in 1996.
Gentleman's Quarterly Magazine
In 1996, he manage GQ, Beckman created and produced GQ's Men of the Year.
Vogue Magazine
Beckman became president of Vogue Magazine in 1998. There he launched Teen Vogue and Men's Vogue and co-produced the Vogue/VH1 Fashion Awards in 2000–2001. In 2001, Beckman along with Rod Stewart won the City of Hope award.
Conde Nast Media Group
From 2002 to 2009, Beckman oversaw Condé Nast Media Group. He developed network television shows including Fashion Rocks on CBS and Movies Rock on CBS.
Conde Nast Publications/Fairchild Fashion Group
He was CEO of the Fairchild Fashion Group, made up of several assets acquired from Capital Cities/Disney for $630mm and included: WWD, Footwear News, W Magazine, Beauty Biz, Fairchild Trade Shows, Summits and Fairchild Books.
In 2010, Beckman was the founding chief executive officer of Prometheus Global Media. There he changed The Hollywood Reporter from a daily print publication be platform agnostic, covering the entertainment industry, re-positioned Billboard, and executive produced The Billboard Music Awards in May 2011/2012, after a 5 years hiatus. Also at Prometheus Global Media, he led the consolidation of Adweek, Mediaweek and Brandweek and expanded the Clio awards by bringing the show back to network television.
Three Lions Entertainment
Beckman was chief executive officer and founder of Three Lions Entertainment, launched by Richard Beckman, Joel Katz, Chairman of Entertainment for Greenberg Traurig, and Ron Burkle in 2013. He engineered the return of Fashion Rocks, aa special on CBS, with corporate partnerships. The show was hosted by Ryan Seacrest and featured performances from artists including Usher, Jennifer Lopez, Nicki Minaj, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Pitbull, Duran Duran, KISS and Enrique Inglesias. It was broadcast live 9 September from the Barclay Center, Brooklyn airing in over 100 countries globally. Beckman also created the revival of the television specialsMovies Rock and Sports Rock.
VICE Media
At Vice Media, Beckman served as Chief Revenue Officer where he oversaw all advertising, sponsorship and brand relationships across all VICE channels, including the launch of VICELAND TV Channel in February 2016. His tenure was less than 1 year.