Robert W. Sarnoff (July 2, 1918 – February 23, 1997) was an American businessman best known as the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

and

chairman of the board The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of Radio Corporation of America (RCA) after assuming those positions on the retirement of his father,

David Sarnoff David Sarnoff (February 27, 1891 – December 12, 1971) was an American businessman and pioneer of American radio and television. Throughout most of his career, he led the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in various capacities from shortly afte ...

. During his rise through the company's ranks, he was best known for his advocacy of

color television Color television or Colour television is a television transmission technology that includes color information for the picture, so the video image can be displayed in color on the television set. It improves on the monochrome or black-and-white t ...

. Through the early 1970s, Sarnoff attempted to build RCA into a multinational

conglomerate Conglomerate or conglomeration may refer to: * Conglomerate (company) * Conglomerate (geology) * Conglomerate (mathematics) In popular culture: * The Conglomerate (American group), a production crew and musical group founded by Busta Rhymes ** Co ...

which included

rental car Renting, also known as hiring or letting, is an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property owned by another. A gross lease is when the tenant pays a flat rental amount and the landlord pays for al ...

carpet A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fibers such as polypropylene, nylon, or polyester hav ...

manufacturing, book publishing and sold

frozen vegetables Frozen vegetables are vegetables that have had their temperature reduced and maintained to below their freezing point for the purpose of storage and transportation (often for far longer than their natural shelf life would permit) until they are re ...

. Focus on RCA's core technology businesses waned and also resulted in the selling of their computer division at a massive financial loss. The company's new direction was not particularly successful, and RCA struggled during the

1973–1975 recession The 1973–1975 recession or 1970s recession was a period of economic stagnation in much of the Western world during the 1970s, putting an end to the overall post–World War II economic expansion. It differed from many previous recessions by ...

. After five years as chairman, a "palace revolt" by the board and senior RCA executives removed Sarnoff from the CEO position. After Sarnoff's unsuccessful tenure, RCA never recovered its former stature and was purchased by

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

in 1986, which liquidated most of the company's assets. Sarnoff died in 1997 after a struggle with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

Early life

Robert was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on July 2, 1918, the first of three sons of

. He went to private schools for his basic education and then attended the

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...

for

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

. In 1939 he graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

with a bachelor's degree in government and philosophy. After a year in Columbia Law School, Robert left to enter government service in the broadcasting arm of the

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...

. A year later he was commissioned in the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

and served in the South Pacific during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After the war, he took a series of positions in media, for a short time as the assistant publisher at The Des Moines Register and Tribune and then moving to Look Magazine.

Career at RCA

After avoiding RCA for some time, in 1948 he took a position as an account executive at RCA's

National Broadcasting Company The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

(NBC) and moved many times within the company over the next few years. Throughout, he was a strong advocate of

. In 1953 he broadcast the first commercial program in color, a production of his commissioned

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

, "Amahl and the Night Visitors". His work with NBC required constant travel, during which time he became an avid art collector. In 1956 he was promoted to the president of NBC, replacing Sylvester Weaver. At the time he stated that "We are committed to color and intend to make the transition as fast as possible." He commissioned the first all-color television station, WNBQ-TV in Chicago (which later became

WMAQ-TV WMAQ-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Telemundo outlet WSNS-TV (chan ...

) and began an expansion of NBC's broadcasting network. Through this period, NBC was a leader in

racial integration Racial integration, or simply integration, includes desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation). In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity ...

, the first network to broadcast a program hosted by Nat King Cole, and the first to have a black actor in a leading role with Bill Cosby in ''I Spy''. In 1965 Robert became president of RCA, and in 1967, the

(CEO). One of Robert's first actions as CEO was to abandon the original RCA logo, changing the name of the company simply to RCA Corporation and introducing a new logo featuring just the three letters in a modern squared font. He also abandoned the use of the "Nipper" logo for RCA, originally introduced for Victrola's "His Master's Voice" logo, retaining it only for a down-brand record label. His father fell seriously ill in 1970 and was removed from the board, at which point Robert became

as well as CEO. His father died the next year. In 1971, Robert sold RCA's computer division to Sperry Rand at a $490 million loss, an action which resulted in significant criticism. Over the next several years he sought to build RCA into a

, purchasing

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

Hertz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...

car rental service,

Banquet Foods Banquet Foods is a subsidiary of Conagra Brands that sells various food products, including frozen pre-made entrées, meals, and desserts. The brand is best known for its line of TV dinners. Banquet was founded in 1953, with the introduction of ...

and many other companies. Through this period, RCA's core business in the technology field were largely ignored. The effects of the

hit the company particularly hard, and Sarnoff was put under increasing pressure. This came to a head in 1975 when the board ousted Robert in what has been called a "palace revolt".

Personal life

Sarnoff married Esme O'Brien and had a daughter Rosita before divorcing in 1949. That year he married Felicia Schiff Warburg and had two more daughters, Serena and Claudia, before divorcing in 1969. In 1970, Felicia remarried to

Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. (August 17, 1914 – August 17, 1988) was an American lawyer, politician, and businessman. He served as a United States congressman from New York from 1949 to 1955 and in 1963 was appointed United States Under Secre ...

Robert became known for a series of brief relationships with various recording stars he met through RCA's various record labels. He remarried in 1974 to singer

Anna Moffo Anna Moffo (June 27, 1932 – March 9, 2006) was an American opera singer, television personality, and actress. One of the leading lyric- coloratura sopranos of her generation, she possessed a warm and radiant voice of considerable range and agil ...

. Sarnoff was a member of the boards of the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...

and a member of the

New York Friars Club The Friars Club is a private club in New York City. Famous for its risqué roasts, the club's membership is composed mostly of comedians and other celebrities. Founded in 1904, it is located at 57 East 55th Street, between Park Avenue and Madi ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarnoff, Robert 1918 births 1997 deaths Businesspeople from New York City Military personnel from New York City American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent American television executives NBC executives RCA people Harvard College alumni Phillips Academy alumni Burials at Kensico Cemetery