William Randolph Hearst Jr.
William Randolph Hearst, Jr. | |
|---|---|
 W.R. Hearst and his wife in 1930 on a visit in Berlin | |
| Born | January 27, 1908 Manhattan, NY |
| Died | May 14, 1993 (aged 85) |
| Cause of death | cardiac arrest |
| Resting place | Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colmam CA, USA |
| Employer | Hearst Corporation |
| Spouse(s) | Alma Walker (div.), Lorelle McCarver (div.), Austine McDonnell (d. 1991)[1] |
| Children | William Randolph Hearst III, John Augustin Hearst |
| Parent(s) | William Randolph Hearst, Millicent Willson Hearst |
William Randolph Hearst, Jr. (January 27, 1908 – May 14, 1993) was the second son of the publisher William Randolph Hearst. He became editor-in-chief of Hearst Newspapers after the death of his father in 1951. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his interview with Soviet premier, Nikita Khrushchev, and associated commentaries in 1955.
Hearst attended the University of California, Berkeley and was a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity.
He was instrumental in restoring some measure of family control to the Hearst Corporation, which under his father's will is (and will continue to be while any grandchild alive at William Randolph Hearst Sr.'s death in 1951 is still living) controlled by a board of thirteen trustees, five from the Hearst family and eight Hearst executives. When tax laws changed to prevent the foundations his father had established from continuing to own the corporation, he arranged for the family trust (with the same trustees) to buy the shares and for longtime chief executive Richard E. Berlin, who was going senile, to be eased out to become chairman of the trustees for a period. Later William Randolph Hearst Jr. himself headed the trust and served as chairman of the executive committee of the corporation. Today his branch of the family is represented on the trustees by his son William Randolph Hearst III.
He was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution.
References
- ^ "William Randolph Hearst Jr., 85, Journalist, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
- Washington Post; May 15, 1993; William Randolph Hearst Jr., Newspaper Editor, Dies at Age 85. William Randolph Hearst Jr., editor in chief of the Hearst newspapers and an heir to the publishing empire established by his father, died today. He was 85. He died in New York, said George Raine, assistant city editor at the San Francisco Examiner, flagship newspaper of the Hearst chain. Hearst, the second of five sons born to William Randolph and Millicent Willson Hearst, found his calling as a reporter and editor. He shared the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting in 1956.
- Michael Cieply and Lindsay Chaney; The Hearsts: family and empire: the later years. ISBN 0-671-24765-4.
