Edward Lewis Gaylord (May 28, 1919April 27, 2003) was an American billionaire businessman,

media mogul A media proprietor, also called a media executive, media mogul, media tycoon, or press baron is an entrepreneur who controls any means of public or commercial mass media, through the personal ownership or holding of a dominant position within a ...

and philanthropist. He was the founder of the

Gaylord Entertainment Company Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. is a hotel, resort, entertainment, and media company named for one of its assets: the Ryman Auditorium, a National Historic Landmark in Nashville, Tennessee. The company's legal lineage can be traced back to it ...

that included ''

The Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circul ...

'' newspaper, Oklahoma Publishing Co., Gaylord Hotels, the Nashville Network TV Channel (later renamed SpikeTV, Spike, and

Paramount Network Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel and the flagship property of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, who operates it through the MTV Entertainment Group. The network's headquarters are located a ...

after being sold off); the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

, and the

Country Music Television Country Music Television, often abbreviated to CMT, is an American pay TV network that launched on March 5, 1983. It is currently owned by Paramount Global through the MTV Entertainment Group unit of its networks division. CMT was the first na ...

Channel (CMT) as well as the defunct

Opryland USA Opryland USA (later called Opryland Themepark and colloquially known as Opryland) was a amusement park, theme park in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The park was located between the Cumberland River and Tennessee State Route 155, Briley Pa ...

theme park and a bankrupt airline,

Western Pacific Airlines Western Pacific Airlines, or WestPac, was an airline which operated in the United States from 1995 to 1998. A low-cost carrier, it was formed in 1994 under the name Commercial Air, later changed to Western Pacific, and began operating scheduled ...

Early life

Gaylord was born on May 28, 1919, in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

, Oklahoma. His father, Edward King Gaylord, was the owner of ''

The Daily Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circul ...

''. Gaylord graduated from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1941, where he earned a degree in business. He attended the

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 ...

and served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Career

Gaylord began his career for Oklahoma Publishing in 1946. He inherited a controlling interest in ''The Daily Oklahoman'' upon his father's death in 1974. He purchased the

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, Tennessee, when it was in dire financial straits and kept it operating. He created

The Nashville Network The Nashville Network, usually referred to as TNN, was an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming included music videos, taped concerts, movies, game shows, syndicated programs, and numerous talk shows. On September ...

TV Channel, as well as Country Music Television, or CMT, which is similar to

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

, and owned

Hee Haw ''Hee Haw'' is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with the fictional rural "Kornfield Kounty" as the backdrop. It aired from 1969 to 1993, and on TNN from 1996 to 1997. Reruns of the series were broadcast on ...

, a long-running country and western variety show. He was also an investor in Texas Rangers at the same time as

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

. Gaylord served as the chairman of the Gaylord Entertainment Company until February 2003. Gaylord was the president of the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association. He also served on the board of directors of the

American Newspaper Publishers Association The News Media Alliance (formerly known as the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) until 2016;

. As the publisher of ''The Oklahoman'', he consistently took conservative political positions in opposition to government spending, but at the same time the paper was sometimes accused of improperly dealing with conflicts of interests created by Gaylord's personal financial interests. One example was the paper's editorial support for the city to use public funds to promote the building of a new Bass Pro Shop in Oklahoma City, while Gaylord Entertainment was then a 19.9% shareholder of Bass Pro stock. ''The Oklahomans reporting on this topic again drew criticism from the ''Columbia Journalism Review''. Gaylord also was a member of the conservative public policy think tank,

Council for National Policy The Council for National Policy (CNP) is an umbrella organization and networking group that advocates for conservative and Republican Party initiatives in the United States. It was launched in 1981 during the Reagan administration by Tim LaHay ...

Philanthropy

The Gaylord family of

helped found the

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, with more than 28,000 Western and Native American art works and artifacts. The facility also has the world's most extensive collection of Amer ...

in Oklahoma City and has given the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

contributions totaling over $50 million in the last three decades, and founded the

Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication The Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication is the journalism unit of the University of Oklahoma in Norman. The college is named for the former longtime publishers of ''The Oklahoman''. History In 1897, five years after the Uni ...

. The home field of the

Sooners Sooners is the name given to settlers who entered the Unassigned Lands illegally in what is now the state of Oklahoma before the official start of the Land Rush of 1889. The Unassigned Lands were a part of Indian Territory that, after a lobbyi ...

football team was renamed

Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, also known as Owen Field or The Palace on the Prairie, is the football stadium on the campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. It serves as the home of the Oklahoma Sooners football team ...

due to their contributions.

Personal life, death and legacy

Gaylord had two sisters, Virginia and

Edith Kinney Gaylord Edith Kinney Gaylord (March 5, 1916 – January 28, 2001), also referred to as Edith Gaylord Harper, was an American journalist and philanthropist. Early life She was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on March 5, 1916, to parents Inez and E. K. Ga ...

, and several children, including Edward King Gaylord II, Mary Gaylord McClean, Louise Gaylord Bennett and Christy Gaylord Everest. Gaylord died of cancer on April 27, 2003, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His funeral was held at the

. The ''Daily Oklahoman'' remained under the Gaylord family's control until the sale in 2011; the news features and editorial position of the paper reflect affiliation with ''

The Washington Examiner The ''Washington Examiner'' is an American conservative news magazine based in Washington, D.C., consisting of a website and a weekly printed magazine. It is owned by Philip Anschutz through MediaDC, a subsidiary of Clarity Media Group. From 20 ...

'', which has the same owner. Edward L. Gaylord's daughters Christy Gaylord Everest and Louise Gaylord Bennett remain as board members. Both sought an updated look for the paper and seemed to present more frequent opposing viewpoints on issues of public concern. The company that bore the family name, Gaylord Entertainment Company, transitioned into a

real estate investment trust A real estate investment trust (REIT, pronounced "reet") is a company that owns, and in most cases operates, income-producing real estate. REITs own many types of real estate, including office and apartment buildings, studios, warehouses, hos ...

in 2012. As part of a long-term contract giving

Marriott International Marriott International, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational company that operates, franchises, and licenses lodging brands that include hotel, residential, and timeshare properties. Marriott International owns over 37 ho ...

the rights to manage its hotels and adjacent attractions, the company was renamed Ryman Hospitality Properties. The Gaylord name transferred to Marriott, and now exists as a brand known as

Gaylord Hotels Gaylord Hotels is the large convention hotel brand of Marriott International. As of 2024, it consists of five large hotels with a total of 9,918 rooms, along with attached convention centers and one overflow support hotel property, in addition to ...

, though RHP continues to own the physical properties.

Awards and honors

*1974 – Oklahoma Hall of Fame *1985 – Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...

. Gaylord was the Host of the 1988 Achievement Summit at the Opryland Resort in Nashville.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaylord, Edward L. 1919 births 2003 deaths Asheville School alumni Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni Harvard Business School alumni University of Oklahoma people United States Army personnel of World War II American billionaires Gaylord family Businesspeople from Oklahoma City Oklahoma Republicans Deaths from cancer in Oklahoma Ryman Hospitality Properties 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American philanthropists Philanthropists from Oklahoma