Business & brands / Press & broadcasting
John Kluge
1914–2010 · media entrepreneur, founder of Metromedia
German immigrant who grew up in Detroit, studied at Wayne State and built Metromedia into a television empire, once ranked America's richest man.
- Born
Chemnitz, Germany- Died
Charlottesville, Virginia
aged 95- Birth name
- John Werner Kluge
- Also known as
- John Werner Kluge
- Detroit years
- 1922–1930s
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Kluge was born in Chemnitz, Germany, and came to the United States in 1922, growing up in Detroit, where he worked in factories as a teenager. He studied for two years at Wayne State University before winning a scholarship to Columbia University, where he graduated in economics in 1937. After Army intelligence service in World War II he bought a radio station and went into food brokerage, then in 1959 gained control of the Metropolitan Broadcasting Company, renamed Metromedia in 1961. Metromedia built up independent TV stations, radio and outdoor advertising; in 1986 he sold its television stations to Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation for about $4 billion, and they became the core of the Fox network. Forbes listed him as the richest person in the United States in the late 1980s. He gave generously to Columbia and the Library of Congress, which awards the Kluge Prize.
Highlights
- Grew up in Detroit after immigrating in 1922
- Studied at Wayne State University before Columbia (B.A. 1937)
- Built Metromedia; sold its TV stations to News Corp. in 1986
- Endowed the Library of Congress's Kluge Prize
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · early 1930s
Wayne State University
He studied here for two years (then Detroit City College) before transferring to Columbia.