William Randolph Hearst III (born June 18, 1949) is an American heir, businessman, and philanthropist.

Biography

Early life

William Randolph Hearst III was born on June 18, 1949. His father was William Randolph Hearst Jr., and his paternal grandfather was

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

. He graduated from the Canterbury School in

New Milford, Connecticut New Milford is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The town is in western Connecticut, north of Danbury, on the banks of the Housatonic River, and it shares its border with the northeastern shore of Candlewood Lake. It is th ...

in 1967. He graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

in 1972 with an AB degree in mathematics.

Career

He spent years as an employee of the

Hearst Corporation Hearst Communications, Inc., often referred to simply as Hearst, is an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Hearst owns newspapers, magazines, telev ...

, eventually as editor and publisher of the ''

San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst, and flagship of the Hearst Corporat ...

''. His grandfather had also headed that paper, though his father had been publisher of the ''

New York Journal American :''Includes coverage of New York Journal-American and its predecessors New York Journal, The Journal, New York American and New York Evening Journal'' The ''New York Journal-American'' was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 t ...

''. In some television commercials, Hearst III was shown having a conversation with his grandfather's portrait. (In fact, he was only two when his grandfather died.) In 1976 he left the company to become the managing editor of '' Outside'' magazine which was then being started by the ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' magazine founder

Jann Wenner Jann Simon Wenner ( ; born January 7, 1946) is an American magazine magnate who is a co-founder of the popular culture magazine ''Rolling Stone'', and former owner of '' Men's Journal'' magazine. He participated in the Free Speech Movement while ...

. He returned to the company and newspaper work in 1980. In 1992 he again left his job at the company, remaining on the board of directors. The following year he succeeded his father as a trustee of the trust that controls the company and chooses the directors. In 1996, he was a co-founder of the @Home Network Broadband Internet service with Milo Medin, cable companies Tele-Communications Inc.,

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

and Cox Cable where he served as the company's first chief executive officer. In 1995, he was named partner at the

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo Cou ...

venture capital firm of

Kleiner Perkins Kleiner Perkins, formerly Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), is an American venture capital firm which specializes in investing in incubation, early stage and growth companies. Since its founding in 1972, the firm has backed entrepreneurs ...

. He sits on several boards of directors of companies in which the firm has investments, including

Hearst Television Hearst Television, Inc. (formerly Hearst-Argyle Television) is a broadcasting company in the United States owned by Hearst Communications. From 1998 to mid-2009, the company traded its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ...

.Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc. - Biography of William Randolph Hearst III, Director
/ref> He served as a member of the board of directors of

Juniper Networks Juniper Networks, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. The company develops and markets networking products, including routers, switches, network management software, network security product ...

until May 2008.

Philanthropy

He became president of the William Randolph Hearst Foundation in early 2003. He currently serves on the board of directors at

The Scripps Research Institute Scripps Research, previously known as The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), is a nonprofit American medical research facility that focuses on research and education in the biomedical sciences. Headquartered in San Diego, California, the instit ...

Awards

* 1976 Roy W. Howard Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hearst, William Randolph Iii 1949 births Living people 20th-century American newspaper publishers (people) American newspaper executives American socialites American philanthropists American technology company founders American technology chief executives Businesspeople from San Francisco Canterbury School (Connecticut) alumni Harvard University alumni William Randolph III Kleiner Perkins people