R.I.P. John Kluge
John Kluge, who built a small investment in a radio station into the radio, TV, and film empire Metromedia and became one of the world’s richest men as a result, died Tuesday at his home near Charlottesville, VA. he was 95. Kluge was an immigrant from Germany in 1922, graduated from Columbia with an economics degree, and worked for Army intelligence during World War II. After the war, he got into broadcasting by buying his first AM radio station in 1946 in Silver Spring, Maryland, for $15,000. Bloomberg said his ”investment strategy was simple: Buy cheap properties and include only those that might increase in value under his management. then sell.”He entered television by buying Metropolitan Broadcasting Co. in 1959 after it was too late to break into network television. Metropolitan was later renamed Metromedia Broadcasting, and eventually grew into seven TV stations and 14 radio stations. using a syndication programming strategy of re-running network sitcoms like M*A*S*H* and low-budget movies, Kluge turned Metromedia into the largest independent television business in the U.S. and took the company private in a leveraged buyout in 1983. he then sold off properties piecemeal for $4.65 billion, including the 1985 sale of 7 big-city television stations including NYC, LA, and Houston, to Rupert Murdoch for $2 billion — a deal that formed the Fox television network.Kluge’s Metromedia at one point owned a 70% stake in Orion Pictures whose box office fortunes were up and down. then known for producing quality film fare, Metromedia in May 1986 purchased a 6.5% share … Read more »
