CEO media visibility can enhance managerial discretion, reduce information asymmetry, and lower financing barriers, thereby positively impacting innovation outcomes. However, it may also lead to increased risk aversion and higher costs associated with knowledge spillovers, potentially diminishing innovation outcomes. This theoretical ambiguity persists due to mixed empirical evidence. Our study investigates the impact of CEO media visibility on various dimensions of innovation efforts. Our findings indicate that while CEO media visibility correlates with increased patenting efforts and exploitative innovation, it is also associated with a decline in exploratory innovation. Utilizing a longitudinal sample of publicly listed firms from 1993 to 2015 and measuring CEO media coverage in major U.S. newspapers as an indicator of media visibility, we find substantial support for our hypotheses.