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John W. Kluge: Biography
John W. Kluge is the principal general partner, chair, and president of Metromedia Company, a privately held conglomerate in the United States. It has businesses in the telecommunications industry, information technology, robotic painting, medical and research technology, and the restaurant industry.
Mr. Kluge graduated from Columbia College in 1937 and is Columbia’s greatest benefactor. In addition to pledging $400 million to Columbia University in 2007 for the purpose of endowed financial aid, he previously donated more than $110 million to the University, through the Kluge Scholars program, the Kluge Presidential Scholars, the Kluge Faculty Endowment, and other programs benefiting students in Columbia College. Mr. Kluge is also the founder and past chair of Columbia’s International Advisory Council. In 1988, the University awarded Mr. Kluge an honorary doctor of laws, and in 1991 the Columbia College Alumni Association honored him with the Alexander Hamilton Medal for distinguished service and accomplishment.
An immigrant from Germany, Mr. Kluge made his start in 1946 with the $15,000 purchase of a single radio station. In 1959, he became president and chair of the board of Metropolitan Broadcasting Corporation. At that time, the firm owned two independent television stations and four radio stations. Under his stewardship, Metropolitan Broadcasting was transformed into a media empire that owned the largest independent television network in the United States. The company was renamed Metromedia Inc. in 1960 to reflect a growing corporate emphasis on businesses in media other than television.
During his forty-eight-year tenure at Metromedia, Mr. Kluge charted and managed the purchase, development, and sale of substantial and wide-ranging assets from television and radio broadcasting interests, to outdoor advertising, paging, cellular telephone, and entertainment businesses.
Mr. Kluge’s diverse business interests over the past fifty years have included a number of entertainment and advertising concerns: the Ice Capades and the Harlem Globetrotters; music publishing companies, and rights to Fiddler on the Roof, Zorba the Greek and Cabaret; television production companies and syndications including the Merv Griffin Show; Playbill magazine; and a number of transit advertising and direct-mail advertising businesses.
His commitment to philanthropy reflects his deep belief in human potential and creativity. Mr. Kluge has also given generously to the Library of Congress and the University of Virginia and been active in many other charitable and civic institutions and organizations. He is a trustee of the Strang Cancer Prevention Center affiliated with The New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center. In addition, he is a founding member of the James Madison National Council for the Library of Congress and serves on the boards of several companies including the Shubert Foundation, Inc., American Farmland Trust and the Conair Corporation.
He is married to Maria “Tussi” Kluge and is the father of three children, Joseph, Samantha, and John II (CC’05).