Richard Parsons, legendary Black executive who led Time Warner and Citigroup, dies at 76

NEW YORK (AP) – Richard Parsons, one of America’s most prominent black executives who held top positions at Time Warner and Citigroup, died Thursday. He was 76 years old.

Parsons, who died at his home in Manhattan, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2015 and expressed the “unexpected complications” caused by the disease by reducing work a few years later.

Financial firm Lazard, where Parsons was a long-time board member, confirmed his death.

David Zaslav, president and CEO of Time Warner which succeeded Warner Bros. Discovery, remembered Parsons as “a great mentor and friend” and “a tough and smart negotiator, always looking to create something where both sides win.”

“All those who have had the opportunity to work with him and who know him have seen an unusual combination of good leadership with integrity and kindness,” said Zaslav, calling him “one of the greatest problem solvers this industry has ever seen.”

Parsons’ friend Ronald Lauder told The New York Times that the cause of death was cancer. Parsons stepped down on December 3 from the boards of Lazard and Lauder’s company, Estée Lauder, citing health reasons. He was on the board of Estée Lauder for 25 years.

Parsons, a Brooklyn native who started college at age 16, was named chairman of Citigroup in 2009, one month after leaving Time Warner Inc., where he helped restore the company’s reputation following its disastrous acquisition by Internet provider America Online Inc.

He guided Citigroup back to profitability after the financial turmoil stemming from the subprime mortgage crisis, which boosted the economy in 2007 and 2008.

Parsons was named to the CBS board in September 2018 but resigned a month later due to illness.

Parsons said in a statement at the time that he was already dealing with multiple myeloma when he joined the board, but “unforeseen complications created some new challenges.” He said his doctors advised him to reduce his commitments to ensure his recovery.

“Dick’s distinguished career embodies the best traditions of American business leadership,” Lazard said in a statement. The company, where Parsons was a board member from 2012 until this month, praised his “unquestionable intelligence and irrepressible warmth.”

“Dick was more than just an iconic leader in Lazard’s history – he was a testament to how wisdom, warmth, and unwavering judgment can shape not only companies, but people’s lives,” the company said. “His legacy lives on in the many leaders he mentored, the institutions he revitalized, and the doors he opened for others.”

Parsons was known as a skilled negotiator, speaker and problem manager.

Although he was with Time Warner through its difficulties with AOL, he gained respect for the company and rebuilt its relationship with Wall Street. He masterminded the structure of Time Warner, paid off debt and sold Warner Music Group and the book publishing division.

He also resisted a challenge from activist investor Carl Icahn in 2006 to break up the company and helped Time Warner reach settlements with investors and regulators over questionable accounting practices at AOL.

Parsons joined Time Warner as president in 1995 after serving as chairman and CEO of Dime Bancorp Inc., one of the largest savings banks in the US.

In 2001, after AOL used its fortunes as the leading provider of Internet access in the US to buy Time Warner for $106 billion in stock, Parsons became a chief executive working with AOL CEO Robert Pittman. In that role, he oversaw the company’s content businesses, including movie and recording studios.

He became CEO in 2002 upon the retirement of Gerald Levin, one of the key architects of that merger. Parsons was named chairman of Time Warner the following year, succeeding AOL founder Steve Case, who had also succeeded in the merger.

The Internet division of the newly formed company quickly became Time Warner. The promised interaction between traditional and new media did not materialize. AOL began seeing a decline in subscribers in 2002 as Americans switched to dial-up broadband from cable TV and phone companies.

Parsons stepped down as CEO in 2007 and as chairman in 2008. A year later AOL split from Time Warner and began trading as a separate company, after years of trying to reinvent itself as a business focused on advertising and content. Time Warner is now owned by AT&T Inc.

A board member of Citigroup and its predecessor, Citibank, since 1996, Parsons was named chairman in 2009 amid turmoil at the financial institution. Citigroup lost five straight quarters of losses and received $45 billion in government bailouts. Its board has been criticized for allowing the bank to invest heavily in a risky housing market.

Citigroup returned to profitability under Parsons, starting in 2010, and won’t have a quarterly loss again until the fourth quarter of 2017. Parsons retired from that job in 2012.

In 2014 he stepped in as interim CEO of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers until Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer took over later that year.

“Dick Parsons was a brilliant, transformative leader and media giant who led with integrity and never shied away from a challenge,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.

Parsons, a Republican, previously worked as a lawyer for Nelson Rockefeller, the Republican governor of New York, and in Gerald Ford’s White House. Those early days gave him a foundation in politics and negotiation. He was also an economic adviser to President Barack Obama’s transition team.

Parsons, whose love of jazz led him to own a Harlem jazz club, also served as Chairman of the Apollo Theater and the Jazz Foundation of America. He also held positions on the boards of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the American Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Parsons played basketball at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and received his law degree from Albany Law School in 1971. He is survived by his wife, Laura, and their family.

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This incident was written mainly by the late Associated Press reporter Anick Jesdanun, who died in 2020.