Laurence Tisch
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Laurence Alan Tisch (born March 5, 1923, died November 15, 2003) was a Wall Street investor and self-made billionaire. He was the CEO of CBS television network from 1986 to 1995. With his brother Bob Tisch, he was part owner of the Loews Corporation.
He is the namesake of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University (NYU), Tisch Center at Skidmore College and the Tisch Children's Zoo in New York City's Central Park. His 1982 donation enabled the school to relocate to its current Broadway facility.
Tisch was born March 5, 1923. He graduated college when he was just 18, and five years later made his first investment, purchasing a 300-room winter resort in Lakewood, N.J. Two years later, his brother Bob joined him in the business, launching a lifelong partnership between the pair.
At Loews, Tisch oversaw a financial corporation with assets of over $70 billion, including a hotel chain, a tobacco company (Lorillard), an insurance firm (CNA Financial) and an offshore drilling company.
The Brooklyn native served as chief executive officer and chairman of the board of CBS Inc. from 1986-95, a period when the "Tiffany Network" saw its nightly newscast fall to third place and lost NFL football to the upstart Fox Network.
As the first hotel took off, the Tisch brothers bought hotels in Atlantic City and the Catskills. Their hotel empire continued to expand, generating millions of dollars, and the Tisch brothers began investing in Loews Theaters.
In 1961, Tisch — known to friends as Larry — gained control of Loews and became its co-chairman with his brother. The pair soon diversified the business, successfully venturing into a variety of areas.
After he and his brother took over Loews, the company moved in a variety of directions. Loews acquired Lorillard, a tobacco company, and the Bulova Watch Co. Through shrewd acquisitions, Tisch built Loews' revenues from $100 million in 1970 to more than $3 billion by a decade later.
In 2002, the corporation had revenues of more than $17 billion and assets of more than $70 billion.
In 1986, when CBS Inc. was the target of several hostile takeover attempts, Tisch stepped in to seize control by spending $800 million for a 24.9% stake of the company.
But the Tisch era was marked by cost-cutting and criticism that he had tarnished the network's reputation and damaged its morale. CBS divested itself of non-broadcast assets including Holt, Rinehart and Winston (publishers) for $500M, and the CBS Music Group, which was sold to Sony for $2B
Westinghouse Electric bought CBS in 1995 for an estimated $5.4B, of which Tisch's ownership netted him $2B.
Tisch was also known for his philanthropy, with major donations to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York University, the NYU Medical Center and the Wildlife Conservation Society. His $4.5 million gift to the latter created the Tisch Children's Zoo in Central Park.
Tisch served as chairman of the board of trustees at NYU from 1978 to 1998, overseeing a $1 billion capital campaign and major improvements in the university. He was also a former president of the United Jewish Appeal of New York.
