J. Richard Munro Dies: CEO Who Led The Creation Of Time Warner & HBO Was 93
deadline.comJ. Richard Munro, the former chairman and CEO of Time Inc. who led the storied publisher’s 1989 merger with Warner Communications and was a driving force in the early success of HBO, has died.
He was 93. His son told The New York Times that Munro died August 11 in Naples, FL. As Chairman and CEO, Munro is best known for crafting the merger with Warner Communications, creating what at the time was the world’s largest media and entertainment company.
In the go-go M&A environment of the late ’80s, it took Munro and his team — which included future Time Warner CEO Gerald Levin — two years to find the right partner.
All the while, they were under pressure from shareholders to fend off competition from foreign conglomerates such as Bertelsmann AG and News Corp.
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