Richard D. Parsons, a longtime banking govt who took the helm of Time Warner throughout a troubled time for the communications firm and who helped Citigroup navigate the monetary disaster, died on Thursday at age 76.
A outstanding Black businessman, Parsons additionally helped the NBA’s Clippers navigate a scandal over racism.
Parsons was broadly credited with the turnaround of Time Warner after its botched $165 billion merger with AOL, CNN reported. With Parsons as CEO, Time Warner slashed its debt by roughly half because it ushered in a brand new period of sustainable development.
The New York Instances mentioned the reason for loss of life was most cancers, citing Ronald Lauder, a longtime buddy of Parsons and chairman of the board of Estee Lauder. Parsons, who was born in Brooklyn, New York, had additionally served on the Estee Lauder board, in addition to on the board of asset administration agency Lazard.
He “was greater than an iconic chief in Lazard’s historical past — he was a testomony to how knowledge, heat, and unwavering judgment might form not simply corporations, however folks’s lives,” Lazard mentioned in a press release on its web site.
“When Citigroup confronted its darkest hour throughout the monetary disaster, he stepped ahead as Chairman regardless of the immense challenges forward, saying merely, ‘You’ll be able to’t abandon your troops when the going will get powerful,’” Lazard mentioned.
Citigroup, in a press release, mentioned: “Dick utilized his legendary management capabilities throughout an extremely difficult time for our firm, leaving Citi higher than he discovered it.”
In 2014, when the NBA banned Los Angeles Clippers proprietor Donald Sterling for all times over racist feedback, the basketball league put in Parsons as Clippers interim chief govt.
“At a time of adversity and uncertainty for the Los Angeles Clippers, Dick stepped in to supply the kind of regular and reassuring management that outlined his outstanding profession in enterprise and public service,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver mentioned In a press release Thursday.
The Instances famous that Parsons was usually the one Black govt in a boardroom and spoke out on social points, together with following the loss of life of George Floyd in 2020.
He’s finest remembered as a troubleshooter, dealing with company emergencies corresponding to losses at Dime Bancorp throughout the financial savings and mortgage disaster within the Eighties, the Instances reported.
Lazard additionally famous his service as chairman of the Apollo Theater and the Jazz Basis of America, and his positions on the boards of the Smithsonian Nationwide Museum of African American Historical past and Tradition, the American Museum of Pure Historical past and the Museum of Trendy Artwork in New York Metropolis.
He’s survived by his spouse, Laura, with whom he had three youngsters, the Instances reported.
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