What is John Kluge’s Net Worth?
John Kluge was a German-American entrepreneur and media mogul who had a net worth of $6.5 billion at the time of his death in 2010.
John Kluge was the founder, chairman, and CEO of Metromedia, which owned numerous radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986. Later, through the Metromedia Company, he created the Metromedia Restaurant Group, a casual dining company that operated and franchised over 800 restaurants. In 1986, Kluge sold the Metromedia television stations to the 20th Century Fox film studio for $4 billion. Those stations would later form the core of what would become the Fox television network. The sale made John Kluge the richest man in America.
Kluge was also significantly involved in philanthropy, having made major donations to Columbia University, the University of Virginia, and the Library of Congress, establishing the John W. Kluge Center at the lattermost institution in 2000.
Early Life and Education
John Kluge was born on September 21, 1914 in Chemnitz, Germany into a Presbyterian family. In 1922, he immigrated to the United States. There, Kluge attended Wayne State University for two years before completing his higher education at Columbia University. He graduated in 1937 with his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics.
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In the mid-1950s, Kluge purchased stock in the Metropolitan Broadcasting Corporation, which was the successor of the DuMont Television Network. He went on to become the company’s chairman and largest stockholder by 1958, having acquired the majority of his shares from founder Allen B. DuMont for around $6 million. Among the company’s earliest acquisitions were a radio station in Cleveland, Ohio and television stations in Stockton, California; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Peoria and Decatur, Illinois. In 1961, the company was renamed Metromedia. Throughout the rest of the decade, Kluge expanded the company into Los Angeles, purchased the live entertainment groups the Ice Capades and the Harlem Globetrotters, and launched the Metromedia Records label. The company also established a television production and distribution arm, Metromedia Producers Corporation, through which it produced and syndicated various programs.
Metromedia made its largest broadcasting purchase in 1982 when it acquired the Boston, Massachusetts station WCVB-TV for $220 million. A few years later, Kluge announced the sale of Metromedia’s television stations, as well as other assets, to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation and 20th Century Fox Film Corporation. He completed the deal in 1986 for around $4 billion. The stations he sold would become the core of the Fox Broadcasting Company, which debuted later in the year.
In 1987, Kluge was listed by Forbes as the richest man in the United States. He went on to create the Metromedia Company, in which he was a partner with fellow media magnate Stuart Subotnick. Through that venture, Kluge was involved in television and radio networks in Eastern Europe, China, and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Also part of the Metromedia Company was the Metromedia Restaurant Group, which operated and franchised over 800 restaurants, including those under the names Steak and Ale, Bennigan’s, and Ponderosa.
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Philanthropy
In his philanthropic activities, Kluge donated over $510 million to his alma mater Columbia University, including more than $110 million between 1987 and 1993. The funds were primarily to endow financial aid for undergraduates from disadvantaged backgrounds. Later, upon Kluge’s passing, the school received from him $400 million to go toward financial aid, making it the largest pledge ever given for student aid to any single institution of higher education in the United States.
Kluge also donated substantially to the University of Virginia, including his extensive collection of contemporary Indigenous Australian art and his 7,378-acre estate Morven Farm, which was valued at over $45 million upon its bequeathment. Elsewhere, he donated $60 million to the Library of Congress for the creation of the John W. Kluge Center, an academic center established in 2000 for the Library’s 200th anniversary. The Center also manages the Kluge Scholars’ Council and administers the Kluge Prize.
Personal Life and Death
Kluge was married a total of four times. His first wife was Theodora Townsend, and his second was Yolanda Zucco. Kluge’s final two wives were Patricia Rose and Maria Kuttner. He had six children from his relationships, including biological daughter Samantha; adopted sons Joseph and John Jr.; and stepchildren Diane, Jeanette, and Peter. Kluge had homes in New York, Virginia, and Florida.
On September 7, 2010, Kluge passed away in Charlottesville, Virginia. He was two weeks shy of his 96th birthday.
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