Walter (Hubert) Annenberg - Early life, Business life, Personal life, Philanthropy

Publisher and philanthropist, born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. Inheriting a communications empire that included the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Racing Forum, and broadcasting stations, he founded Seventeen magazine (1944) and the immensely successful TV Guide (1953), besides purchasing The Philadelphia Daily News (1957). A prominent Republican, he served as US ambassador to Britain (1969–74). He assembled a large art collection that he donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and used some of his huge fortune to endow a graduate school of communications at the University of Pennsylvania.

Walter H.

He was the son of Sarah and Moses "Moe" Annenberg, who published The Daily Racing Form and purchased The Philadelphia Inquirer in 1936.

Early life

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Walter Annenberg attended high school at the Peddie School in Hightstown, New Jersey, graduating in 1927. He attended college at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1931.

Business life

At age 32, after his father's death, he took over the family businesses and even made successes out of some that had been failing.

His biggest success was the creation of TV Guide in 1952, which he started against the advice of his financial advisors.

While he ran his publishing empire as a business, he was not afraid to use it for his own ends.

In 1966, Annenberg used the pages of the Inquirer to cast doubt on the candidacy of Democrat Milton Shapp, for governor of Pennsylvania. Shapp was highly critical of the proposed merger of the Pennsylvania Railroad with the New York Central and was pushing the U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission to stop it. Annenberg, a significant shareholder of the Pennsylvania Railroad, wanted to see the merger go through.

After Richard M. Nixon appointed him as ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1970, Annenberg sold the Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News to Knight Newspapers for $55 million.

Personal life

His first marriage, to Veronica Dunkelman, failed in 1949 after 11 years. (Harvard University, where Roger was a student at the time, now has a Roger Annenberg Hall in his honor.) Walter's marriage to his second wife, Leonore "Lee" Rosentiel, was, by all accounts, a lasting and fulfilling relationship.

Annenberg led a lavish lifestyle, enjoying his riches. It was Annenberg who introduced Reagan to Margaret Thatcher, and the Reagans often celebrated New Year's Eve with the Annenbergs.

Philanthropy

Even while an active businessman, he had an interest in public service.

After the sale of the Philadelphia papers, he established the Annenberg Schools for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California.

In 1989, he created the Annenberg Foundation, then, in 1993, he created the Annenberg Challenge, a $500 million, five-year reform effort and the largest single gift ever made to American public education.

In 1998 he sold TV Guide, Seventeen, and a few other publications to Australian publishing magnate Rupert Murdoch for $3 billion, announcing that he would devote the rest of his life to philanthropy.

"Education...", he once said, "holds civilization together." Many school buildings, libraries, theaters, hospitals, and museums all over the United States now bear Annenberg's name.

Annenberg died at his home in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, in October 2002, at the age of 94.