Jerome H. Kern (born June 1, 1937) is an American lawyer, investment banker, consultant, and philanthropist. Kern was one of the founding members of

Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is an American law firm in New York City. The firm is known for corporate law, regularly handling large and complex transactions. On both a profit per lawyer, and profit per equity partner basis, it is the most p ...

. After a career in investment banking, he served as a senior partner of

Shea & Gould Shea & Gould was one of New York's best-known law firms. It was established as a result of a merger in 1964 between the firm Manning, Hollinger & Shea and Gallup, and the firm Climenko & Gould. Then in the 1970s the firm acquired several smaller n ...

, then at

Baker Botts Baker Botts L.L.P. is an American law firm of around 725 lawyers. Headquartered in One Shell Plaza in Downtown Houston, Texas, the firm has energy and technology related clients. It is referred to as the second-oldest law firm west of the Missi ...

, while holding senior leadership positions at

Tele-Communications Inc. Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI) was a cable television provider in the United States, and for most of its history was controlled by Bob Magness and John Malone. The company was started in 1958 in Bozeman, Montana as Western Microwave, Inc. and Co ...

In the early 2000s, he was CEO of

Linkshare Rakuten Advertising, formerly known as Rakuten Marketing, is an affiliate marketing service provider. The company, in 2005, claimed it was the largest pay-for-performance affiliate marketing network on the Internet.Derek Vaughan (July 12, 2005Make ...

, On Command, and

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

. He was also chairman and CEO of

Colorado Symphony The Colorado Symphony is an American symphony orchestra located in Denver, Colorado. Established in 1989 as the successor to the Denver Symphony Orchestra, the Colorado Symphony performs in Boettcher Concert Hall, located in the Denver Performing ...

and is currently a senior advisor to

Moelis & Company Moelis & Company is a global investment bank that provides financial advisory services to corporations, governments, and financial sponsors. The firm advises on strategic decisions such as mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and restruct ...

Biography

Kern received his B.A. from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1957. He then graduated from

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...

on a

Root-Tilden Scholarship The Root-Tilden-Kern Scholarship is a full-tuition public service scholarship for students at New York University School of Law. It is widely considered to be the most prestigious public interest scholarship for law students in the United States. T ...

in 1960 and was managing editor of the ''

New York University Law Review The ''New York University Law Review'' is a bimonthly general law review covering legal scholarship in all areas, including legal theory and policy, environmental law, legal history, and international law. The journal was established in 1924 as a ...

''. In 1965, Kern,

Herbert Wachtell Herbert Maurice Wachtell (born May 24, 1932) is an American lawyer. He is the co-founder of the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Education and early career Herbert Maurice Wachtell was born on May 24, 1932 in New York City. His parents we ...

Martin Lipton Martin Lipton (born June 22, 1931) is an American lawyer, a founding partner of the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz specializing in advising on mergers and acquisitions and matters affecting corporate policy and strategy. From 1958–1 ...

Leonard Rosen Leonard M. Rosen (November 19, 1930 – April 16, 2014) was an American bankruptcy lawyer, and a co-founder of the prominent New York firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.Tiffany Kary, Phil Milford and Linda Sandler, Leonard M. Rosen, Wachtell Lipt ...

, and George Katz, formed the law firm

. Kern later left the firm to pursue a career in investment banking, running his own brokerage firm J.H. Kern & Company. He returned to law practice, was a partner at Olwine, Connelly, Chase, O’Donnell & Weyher, and eventually becoming an executive committee member of

. From 1992 to 1998, Kern was a partner at

and was the top outside legal counsel to

and

Liberty Media Liberty Media Corporation (commonly referred to as Liberty Media or just Liberty) is an American mass media company controlled by chairman John C. Malone. The company has three divisions, reflecting the company's ownership stakes in Formula One ...

for over twenty years. Described as the right-hand man to

John C. Malone John Carl Malone (born March 7, 1941) is an American billionaire businessman, landowner and philanthropist. He was chief executive officer (CEO) of Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI), a cable and media giant, for twenty-four years from 1973 to 1996. ...

, Kern was the architect of TCI's merger with

AT&T Corporation AT&T Corporation, originally the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is the subsidiary of AT&T Inc. that provides voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agen ...

and served as a director and Vice Chairman of TCI. Malone once referred to Kern as "the dean of cable lawyers." He left the board of

in 2004. Kern was made CEO of

in 1999. He then served as Chairman and CEO of On Command, the nation's largest provider of pay-per-view video services in hotel rooms from 2000 to 2001. Since 2001, Kern has run his own consulting firm, Kern Consulting LLC, focusing on serving clients in the media and telecommunications sectors. He joined the board of

Playboy Enterprises PLBY Group, Inc. is an American global media and lifestyle company founded by Hugh Hefner as Playboy Enterprises, Inc. to oversee the ''Playboy'' magazine and related assets. Its headquarters are in Los Angeles, California. The company is focus ...

in 2002 and served as interim CEO from 2008 to 2009 following the departure of

Christie Hefner Christie Ann Hefner (born November 8, 1952) is an American businesswoman. She was chairman and CEO of Playboy Enterprises from 1988 to 2009, and is the daughter of ''Playboy'' magazine founder Hugh Hefner. Early life Hefner was born in Chicago, ...

. Kern departed Playboy's board of directors in 2009. In 2007, he also formed Enki Strategic Advisors, a consulting firm helping companies expand into mobile and multi-platform media technologies. In 2020, Kern joined

as senior advisor.

Philanthropy

Kern donated $5 million to

and set off a $30 million fundraising campaign for the

program. Then NYU Law dean

John Sexton John Edward Sexton (born September 29, 1942) is an American lawyer, academic, and author. He is the Benjamin F. Butler Professor of Law at New York University where he teaches at the law school and NYU's undergraduate colleges. Sexton served as t ...

renamed the scholarship program Root-Tilden-Kern Scholarship in honor of his generosity. He currently sits on the law school's board of trustees. Kern served as Chairman and CEO of

from 2016 to 2021 and helped with the symphony's fundraising efforts. Kern took over the symphony in 2011 when it was on the verge of bankruptcy, with $1.2 million in debt, and left the organization with an $88 million endowment at the time of his retirement. As Chairman, he hired

Andrew Litton Andrew Litton (born May 16, 1959, New York City) is an American orchestral conductor. Litton is a graduate of The Fieldston School. He studied piano with Nadia Reisenberg and conducting with Sixten Ehrling at the Juilliard School of Music in New ...

as music director of the symphony.

Personal life

Kern is married to Dr. Mary Rossick Kern. The couple lived at the

Four Seasons Hotel Denver Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences Denver is a tall skyscraper in Denver, Colorado. This makes it the 4th tallest building in Denver. It was completed in 2010 and has 45 stories and of usable floor space. It is estimated to cost $350 mi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kern, Jerome H. 1937 births Columbia College (New York) alumni New York University School of Law alumni Playboy people Liberty Media people Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz people 20th-century American lawyers American businesspeople in mass media American chief executives Philanthropists from Colorado American entertainment industry businesspeople American consulting businesspeople American consultants Businesspeople from Colorado Living people