Richard “Dick” Parsons is considered one of the top business executives of his era. One of his many prominent posts includes being the firs...
Richard “Dick” Parsons is considered one of the top business executives of his era. One of his many prominent posts includes being the first Black CEO of a major non-minority owned lending institution. The Brooklyn native was born April 4, 1948.
Parsons grew up in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood and was a stellar student who graduated high school at 16. He entered the University of Hawaii at Manoa after attempting to attend Yale University. Parsons then entered Albany Law School, graduating first in his class in 1971, all while working part-time as a janitor.
Parson started his career serving as legal counsel to New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller. Gov. Rockefeller retained Parsons as a lawyer when he was appointed U.S. Vice President under President Gerald Ford. In 1990, Parsons was named CEO of the Dime Savings Bank after working there just two years as its COO and turning the company around.
The achievement gave Parsons a reputation as a corporate problem solver, leading to positions such as CEO of AOL Time Warner, the chairman for Citigroup, and the CEO for the Los Angeles Clippers in 2014 after owner Dan Sterling was made to resign. In September of last year, Parsons stepped in as interim chairman for the board of CBS after former chairman and CEO Les Moonves was forced out due to alleged sexual harassment. But Parsons stepped down from the position a month later due to health issues.
PHOTO: AP
HEAD BACK TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE
* This article was originally published here
