Dick Parsons, an American businessman who led Time Warner and helped iconic US companies navigate tough circumstances, has died at 76.
A prominent Black business executive, Parsons was known for his problem-solving prowess, steering major companies, including Time Warner and Citigroup, through periods of distress. He also advised US presidents and served on the boards of Estee Lauder, the Museum of Modern Art and other companies. (Time Warner is the former parent company of CNN.)
“Dick Parsons was the most brilliant person I’ve ever met — wise, steady, and endlessly insightful,” said Ronald Lauder, one of the heirs to the Estee Lauder cosmetics company who worked with Parsons. “His composure, brilliance, and unwavering ability to find solutions were unparalleled.”
Parsons’ death was confirmed both by Lauder and in a statement from financial services firm Lazard, where he had served on the board.
“Dick’s storied career embodied the finest traditions of American business leadership,” Lazard said.
With a steady hand, Parsons wielded influence in Corporate America during the dot-com bust and the Great Recession.
He was widely credited for Time Warner’s stunning turnaround after a botched $165 billion merger with AOL, the web portal ubiquitous in the early days of the internet. With Parsons as its CEO, Time Warner slashed its debt in roughly half as it ushered in a new era of sustainable growth.
Then Parsons was tapped to lead Citigroup as chairman through a complex and much-needed structuring process after the financial crisis of 2008, which led to the biggest banking collapse in US history.
“Dick played both an enormous role in building Time Warner but was also one of the great problem solvers this industry has ever seen. It’s why so of us many looked up to him and sought his wise advice,” said David Zaslav, president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery who had met Parsons about 30 years ago at NBC. He said that Parsons was a “tough and brilliant negotiator, always looking to create something where both sides win.”
A swift ascent
Richard Dean Parsons was born on April 4, 1948, in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in South Ozone Park in Queens. He was one of five children, and his parents were an electrician and a homemaker.
Coming from a middle-class family, Parsons attended public school and graduated after skipping two grade levels. At 16, he enrolled at the University of Hawaii, where he played basketball and met Laura Ann Bush, whom he married in 1968. He also graduated at the top of his class at Albany Law School in 1971.
Parsons had a knack for politics and corporate decision-making. He started his career as a lawyer for former New York governor Nelson Rockefeller. When Rockefeller became US vice president, Parsons moved to D.C. as a White House aide in President Gerald Ford’s administration.
Later on, he would be an economic adviser for President Barack Obama and work on the transition team for former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg.
After moving back to New York, Parsons quickly rose the ranks at the law firm Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler, eventually becoming partner. He moved to the banking industry, leading Dime Savings Bank of New York as an executive, then as its CEO — his first experience giving a company a successful makeover.
He stayed true to his passion for basketball, serving as interim CEO of the Los Angeles Clippers in 2014 while putting his resolute leadership skills in action.
“At a time of adversity and uncertainty for the Los Angeles Clippers, Dick stepped in to provide the type of steady and reassuring leadership that defined his remarkable career in business and public service,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement Thursday.
Parsons didn’t see his race as a key aspect of his success story.
“For a lot of people, race is a defining issue. It just isn’t for me,” he told The New York Times in 1997. “It is… like air. It’s like height. I have other things that I’m focused on.″
