Voting Station

Laurence Tisch

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Entrepreneur

The Resume

    (March 5, 1923-November 15, 2003)
    Born in Brooklyn, New York
    With his brother, bought Loewe's Theatres from MGM (1959)
    Acquired Lorillard Tobacco (1968), CNA Financial (1974), and Bulova Watch Co. (1979)
    CEO of CBS (1986-95)

Why he might be annoying:

    He enrolled in Harvard Law School, but dropped out after a year.
    He got his start investing in hotels by borrowing $125, 000 from his parents.
    When he became CEO of CBS, he said that the news division would 'get total support from me in every way -- financially, morally,' then fired a sixth of the news division personnel, slashed the budget by $30 million, and closed three overseas news bureaus.
    Detractors said he turned 'the Tiffany network' into the 'Woolworth network.'
    He clashed repeatedly with the network's affiliate stations, culminating with a bloc of affiliates defecting to Fox.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He graduated from NYU at 18, and earned an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at 20.
    He served with the OSS as a cryptanalyst (code breaker) during World War II.
    Viewed strictly from a financial viewpoint, his tenure at CBS was a success: it ended with the network being sold to Westinghouse for $5.4 billion, netting a hefty profit for Tisch and other investors.
    He donated $4.5 million to create the Tisch Childrens Zoo in Central Park.
    He was president of the United Jewish Appeal.
    He was married to Wilma 'Billie' Stein for 55 years.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying