William Randolph Hearst III (born June 18, 1949) is an American heir, businessman, philanthropist and member of the wealthy

Hearst family The Hearst family is a wealthy American family based in California. Their fortune was originally earned in the mining industry during the late 19th century under the entrepreneurial leadership of George Hearst. George's son, William Randolph Hear ...

Biography

Early life and education

William Randolph Hearst III was born on June 18, 1949. His father was

William Randolph Hearst Jr. William Randolph Hearst Jr. (January 27, 1908 – May 14, 1993) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher and member of the wealthy Hearst family. He was the second son of the publisher William Randolph Hearst. He became editor-in-chief ...

, and his paternal grandfather was

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His extravagant methods of yellow jou ...

. He graduated from the Canterbury School in

New Milford, Connecticut New Milford is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The town, part of Greater Danbury, as well as the New York Metropolitan Area, has a population of 28,115 as of the 2020 census. New Milford lies north of Danbury on the ...

, in 1967. He graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1972 with a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

degree in mathematics.

Career

He spent years as an employee of the

Hearst Corporation Hearst Corporation, Hearst Holdings Inc. and Hearst Communications Inc. comprise an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate owned by the Hearst family and based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan in New York ...

, 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 has been published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst and the flagship of the He ...

''. 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 ...

''. 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 Outside or Outsides may refer to: * Wilderness Books and magazines * ''Outside'', a book by Marguerite Duras * ''Outside'' (magazine), an outdoors magazine Film, theatre and TV * Outside TV (formerly RSN Television), a television network * '' ...

'' 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. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' magazine founder

Jann Wenner Jann Simon Wenner ( ; born January 7, 1946) is an American businessman who co-founded the popular culture magazine ''Rolling Stone'' with Ralph J. Gleason and is the former owner of '' Men's Journal'' magazine. He participated in the Free S ...

. 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 Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...

and

Cox Cable Cox Communications, Inc. (also known as Cox Cable and formerly Cox Broadcasting Corporation, Dimension Cable Services and Times-Mirror Cable), is an American digital cable television provider, telecommunications and home automation services com ...

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 is 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 area of the Santa Clara Valley ...

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 entrepreneur ...

. 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, made up of a group of television and radio stations, and the Hearst Media Production Group, a distributor ...

.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 Router (computing), routers, Network switch, switches, network management so ...

until May 2008. Since 2017, he has been Editor & Publisher of the quarterly journal. ''Alta Journal'', and website, Alta Online.

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 is a nonprofit American medical research facility that focuses on research and education in the biomedical sciences. Headquartered in San Diego, California, the institute has over 170 laboratories employing 2,100 scientists, tec ...

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