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Austin Michael Beutner (born April 8, 1960) is an American businessman who served as
Los Angeles Unified School District Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a State school, public school district in Los Angeles County, California, United States of America. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the List ...
Superintendent from May 1, 2018 to June 30, 2021. He previously served as the first deputy mayor of Los Angeles from 2010 through 2013, and briefly ran in the 2013 Los Angeles mayoral election. Prior to entering politics, Beutner was an investment banker and would later become the publisher and CEO of the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' and '' The San Diego Union-Tribune''.


Life


Early life and education

Beutner was born in New York and raised in
Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...
,
Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
, the son of German immigrants who came to the United States in the 1920s for economic opportunity. His mother was a schoolteacher and his father was a manufacturing engineer. His mother was Jewish and his father was Roman Catholic, although he did not find out that his father's family was Christian until he was an adult. He is a graduate of East Grand Rapids High School, and graduated from
Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
with a Bachelor of Arts in economics. Beutner has lectured at the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
Bedrosian Center on Governance, the
UCLA Anderson School of Management The John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management (branded as UCLA Anderson) is the graduate business school at the University of California, Los Angeles. The school offers MBA (full-time, part-time, executive), Post Graduate Program for Executi ...
, and the
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism sch ...
. Beutner is a senior lecturer at
Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...
. In 2016, Beutner gave the commencement address to the 2016 graduating class of the
USC Price School of Public Policy The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy (USC Price), previously known as School of Policy, Planning, and Development (SPPD), is the public policy school of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles & Sacramento, California. It offers ...
.


Personal life

Beutner is married to Virginia Woltz Beutner. They have 4 children.


Philanthropy

In 1994 Austin Beutner founded The Beutner Family Foundation with a focus on philanthropy and education for economically disadvantaged people. In 2012 Beutner founded Vision to Learn, a; non-profit that provides children with free eye exams and free glasses by bringing its mobile eye clinics to schools and to other neighborhood youth and community organizations. Since 2012 Vision To Learn has helped more than 100,000 school kids with free eye exams and glasses. In 2019 U.S. Senators
Chris Coons Christopher Andrew Coons (born September 9, 1963) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Delaware, a seat he has held since 2010. A member ...
(D-Del.) and
Joni Ernst Joni Kay Ernst (née Culver; born July 1, 1970) is an American politician and retired military officer serving since 2015 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Iowa. A member of the ...
(R-Iowa) led a bipartisan coalition of Senators in recognizing national nonprofit Vision To Learn. In 2023
Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the US federal government created to protect the health of the US people and providing essential human services. Its motto is "Im ...
Secretary Xavier Becerra joined Beutner and emphasized the critical role of vision health in academic success and how programs like Vision To Learn can help address widespread disparities in access to care. In March 2016, Beutner signed an
amicus brief An amicus curiae (; ) is an individual or organization that is not a party to a legal case, but that is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. Whether an ''amic ...
in support of The
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a Immigration policy of the United States, United States immigration policy that allows some individuals who, on June 15, 2012, were physically present in the United States with no lawful immigra ...
(DACA) expansion and the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) which would provide relief for millions of immigrant families and their communities. On November 8, 2022, California voters approved Proposition 28: The Arts and Music in Schools Funding Guarantee and Accountability Act. The measure requires the state to establish a new, ongoing program supporting arts instruction in schools beginning in 2023–24. Beutner authored the bill and spent nearly $4.2 million of his own money to support the bill. Hollywood entertainers and "A" list actors supported Prop 28. Californians overwhelmingly passed Proposition 28, which will bring a windfall of arts education funding to California schools.


Career


Finance

After graduating in 1982 he went to work at
Smith Barney Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is an American Multinational corporation, multinational financial services corporation specializing in Broker, retail brokerage. It is the wealth & asset management division of Morgan Stanley. On January 13, 2009, ...
as a financial analyst. At the age of 29, he became partner at
The Blackstone Group Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. It was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions firm by Peter G. Peterson, Peter Peterson and Stephen A. Schwarzman, Stephen Schwarzman, who h ...
. In 1996 Beutner co-founded
Evercore Partners Evercore Inc., formerly known as Evercore Partners, is a global independent investment banking advisory firm founded in 1995 by Roger Altman, David Offensend, and Austin Beutner. The firm has advised on over $4.7 trillion of merger, acquisitio ...
, an American independent investment banking advisory firm, with former
Deputy Secretary of the Treasury The deputy secretary of the treasury of the United States advises and assists the Secretary of the Treasury in the supervision and direction of the United States Department of the Treasury, Department of the Treasury and its activities, and succ ...
Roger Altman. When Evercore went public (NYES-EVR) in 2006, the IPO reportedly made Beutner more than $100 million.


Government

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Beutner went to work for the U.S. State Department. The
Clinton administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following his victory over Republican in ...
tapped him to lead a team into Russia and help transition them from communism to a free-market economy, including the decommission of weapons and other material. In January 2010, Beutner was appointed by Antonio Villaraigosa to be the first deputy mayor of Los Angeles, with oversight of twelve city agencies, including the
Port of Los Angeles The Port of Los Angeles is a seaport managed by the Los Angeles Harbor Department, a unit of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles. It occupies of land and water with of waterfront and adjoins the separate Port of Long Beach. Promoted as "Amer ...
, Department of Water and Power and the Housing Authority, with over 17,000 employees. As deputy mayor he focused on making the city more business-friendly and streamlining permitting processes. In 2013, with Villaraigosa's term ending, Beutner launched a campaign to run for
Mayor of Los Angeles The mayor of Los Angeles is the head of the executive branch of the government of Los Angeles and the chief executive of Los Angeles. The office is officially Non-partisan democracy, nonpartisan, a change made in the 1909 charter; previously, ...
, but dropped from the race after a year having captured only 2% of likely voters. The
election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...
was a year away when Beutner suspended his efforts. In 2013, Beutner and former U.S. Secretary of Commerce
Mickey Kantor Michael Kantor (born August 7, 1939) is an American attorney who served as the United States Trade Representative from 1993 to 1996 and United States Secretary of Commerce in 1996 and 1997. Early life and education Born and raised in Nashville, ...
co-chaired the 2020 Commission to study and report on the financial matters in Los Angeles. One of the report's recommendations was to reform the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP). In 2016 Beutner and Kantor penned an
op-ed An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page," is a type of written prose commonly found in newspapers, magazines, and online publications. They usually represent a writer's strong and focused opinion on an issue of relevance to a targeted a ...
in the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' aimed at bringing about reform and changes to the DWP, noting that "The city deserves a public utility that is operated in the long-term best interests of its customers, employees and our environment." In July 2017, Buetner created a task force for the
Los Angeles Unified School District Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a State school, public school district in Los Angeles County, California, United States of America. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the List ...
to look for solutions for declining attendance and other problems. Beutner co-chairs the task force with SEIU President
Laphonza Butler Laphonza Romanique Butler ( ; born May 11, 1979) is an American labor union official and former politician who served as an interim United States Senate, United States senator from California from 2023 to 2024. Butler began her career as a union ...
. "We are here to support Michelle King, and offer suggestions," Beutner said in an interview with ''LA School Report''. On May 1, 2018, the Board appointed Austin Beutner and was met with criticism by United Teachers Los Angeles, who said that Beutner did not have any experience managing a school or a school district. In 2019, UTLA authorized a strike against LAUSD that lasted six days. About 30,000 teachers strike and only a third of about 500,000 students showed up to school, with the District losing $15 million on the first day. The strike ended after a deal between LAUSD and UTLA was reached. In 2020, the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
had forced the schools to shut down. Beutner developed an online platform and distributed laptops and internet service to keep students engaged in remote learning He pushed for the schools to become vaccination sites and for the district to do testing on students and faculty. Beutner also led one of the largest food distribution programs during covid. Beutner introduced Primary Promise which provides K-3 students with the individual attention they need to learn to read and help students build a foundation in math. In 2021, Beutner announced that he would step down on June 30.


Newspaper ownership

In March 2013, a group led by Beutner and
Eli Broad Eli Broad ( ; June 6, 1933April 30, 2021) was an American businessman and philanthropist. In June 2019, ''Forbes'' ranked him as the 233rd-wealthiest person in the world and the 78th-wealthiest in the United States, with an estimated net worth of ...
announced their intent to purchase the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' from its parent
Tribune Publishing Tribune Publishing Company (briefly Tronc, Inc.) is an American newspaper print and online media publishing company. The company, which was acquired by Alden Global Capital in May 2021, has a portfolio that includes the ''Chicago Tribune'', t ...
. They were unsuccessful. In 2014, Beutner took over as publisher and CEO of the ''Los Angeles Times'' when Eddy Hartenstein left to become the non-executive chairman of the board of Tribune Publishing. When Tribune Publishing acquired the ''
San Diego Union-Tribune ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...
'' in 2015, Beutner was named its CEO and publisher, as well as CEO of the newly formed California News Group. He was fired as publisher and chief executive officer of the ''Los Angeles Times'' on September 8, 2015. He wrote on
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that the dismissal was not voluntary: "I am not departing by choice, nor is this some 'mutual agreement' on my part and Tribune Publishing". Beutner's firing was protested by a number of prominent community leaders. Media analyst Ken Doctor called Beutner's departure "a small tragedy for American journalism." During Beutner's 13 months as publisher, the ''Times'' won two Pulitzer Prizes — for cultural criticism and for feature writing — along with other national journalism awards for coverage of the California drought, the plight of Mexican farm workers and other stories. The California Newspaper Publishers Association awarded the ''Times'' its 2015 general excellence award. In 2016, Beutner was invited to speak about the role of the media in homeland security and his experiences in the media and public service at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security. His keynote address was published in ''Watermark'', the quarterly magazine of the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School – Center for Homeland Defense and Security. In September 2017, Beutner was the keynote speaker of the
Los Angeles Fire Department The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD or LA City Fire) provides firefighting services and technical rescue services, hazardous materials services, and emergency medical services to the residents of the city of Los Angeles, California, United ...
Chief Officers Association and United Firefighters of Los Angeles City first Leadership Symposium. In 2018, the Los Angeles Downtown News journal recognized Beutner "as a visionary with extensive political and business connections."


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beutner, Austin Living people American people of German-Jewish descent American financial businesspeople American newspaper executives Dartmouth College alumni Los Angeles Times people Los Angeles Times publishers (people) Los Angeles Unified School District superintendents 1960 births 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American philanthropists 21st-century American newspaper publishers (people) Businesspeople from Grand Rapids, Michigan Philanthropists from Michigan