William Randolph Hearst Jr. (January 27, 1908 – May 14, 1993) was an American businessman and newspaper publisher. He was the second son of the publisher

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

. He became

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of Hearst Newspapers after the death of his father in 1951. He won a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made ...

for his interview with Soviet premier,

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

, and associated commentaries in 1955.

Early life and education

Hearst was born on January 27, 1908, in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

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 ...

, to

and his wife, Millicent Willson. Hearst attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

and was a member of the

Phi Delta Theta Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, along with Beta Theta Pi and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad. ...

fraternity.

Career

Hearst was instrumental in restoring some measure of family control to the

Hearst Corporation Hearst Communications, Inc., often referred to simply as Hearst, is an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Hearst owns newspapers, magazines, telev ...

, which under his father's will is (and will continue to be while any grandchild alive at William Randolph Hearst Sr.'s death in 1951 is still living) controlled by a board of thirteen trustees, five from the Hearst family and eight Hearst executives. When tax laws changed to prevent the foundations his father had established from continuing to own the corporation, he arranged for the family trust (with the same trustees) to buy the shares and for longtime chief executive

Richard E. Berlin Richard E. Berlin (1894-1986) was the president and chief executive officer of the Hearst Foundation. Work In his early career Berlin directed advertising for ''The Smart Set'' and ''McClure's'' magazines. In 1919 he joined the Hearst Corporation ...

, who was going senile, to be eased out to become chairman of the trustees for a period. Later, William Randolph Hearst Jr. himself headed the trust and served as chairman of the executive committee of the corporation. Today, his branch of the family is represented on the trustees by his son, William Randolph Hearst III. Hearst was a member of the

Sons of the American Revolution The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR or NSSAR) is an American congressionally chartered organization, founded in 1889 and headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. A non-profit corporation, it has described its purpose ...

. He makes a brief appearance in the musical adaptation of ''

Newsies ''Newsies'' (released as ''The News Boys'' in the United Kingdom) is a 1992 American musical historical comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and directed by choreographer Kenny Ortega in his film directing debut. Loosely based on t ...

'' as Bill.

Personal life

Hearst was married three times: * Alma Walker (March 24, 1928 – May 26, 1932; divorced) * Lorelle McCarver (March 28, 1933 – March 30, 1948; divorced) * Austine McDonnell (July 29, 1948 – December 15, 1991; her death) He had two sons with McDonnell: * William Randolph Hearst III (born June 18, 1949) * John Augustine Hearst (born October 24, 1952).

References

* ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

''; May 15, 1993; William Randolph Hearst Jr., Newspaper Editor, Dies at Age 85. *

Michael Cieply Michael Cieply (born 1951) is an entertainment industry writer, first for '' The Wall Street Journal'' and then for ''Talk'' magazine and as a media correspondent for '' The New York Times''. Here he covers Hollywood for the media desk. He joine ...

and

Lindsay Chaney Lindsay Chaney (born in 1951) is a senior news editor at '' Variety''. He joined ''Variety'' in 1999. Previously he was a business editor and writer at the ''Long Beach Press-Telegram'', covering the aerospace industry and finance. He has written f ...

; ''The Hearsts: family and empire: the later years''. .

External links

Guide to the William Randolph Hearst, Jr. Papers
at

The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hearst, William Randolph Jr. 1908 births 1993 deaths 20th-century American newspaper publishers (people) American newspaper executives Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting winners American socialites William Randolph Jr. University of California, Berkeley alumni 20th-century American Episcopalians Burials at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park