TV veteran Merv Adelson tapped to consult Warner Bros. on new media
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Colorful entertainment executive Merv Adelson, who co-founded Lorimar Television and once served as a vice chairman of Time Warner Inc., has been tapped as an ‘executive advisor’ to Warner Bros.
Known as much for his highflying lifestyle, lavish tastes and serial marriages (four times, including to Barbara Walters) as his business ventures, the 80-year-old Adelson will advise the movie and TV studio on new-media start-ups, Warner Bros. said.
Adelson has been off Hollywood’s radar for several years. But in an interview, the former TV executive said Time Warner Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes was the one who approached him about consulting for the studio.
‘I had known Jeff Bewkes for a long time ... sometime after the first of the year Jeff actually called me and said, `We want you back.’ ‘ Adelson said Bewkes wants him to encourage new-media entrepreneurs to meet with Warner Bros. executives. He’ll report to Bewkes and Warner Bros. Chairman Barry Meyer, who also has long ties to Adelson.
Adelson rose to prominence as a Las Vegas real estate developer during the 1950s when the city was taking off as a gambling mecca. He and longtime partner Irwin Molasky built the city’s first shopping mall and 24-hour supermarket. Adelson later started the swank La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad.
As chief executive of Lorimar, which Adelson founded alongside producer Lee Rich, he launched a programming giant and training ground for many top entertainment executives, including CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves and former News Corp. President Peter Chernin. Lorimar, which made the hit series ‘The Waltons’ and ‘Dallas,’ was sold to Warner Bros. in 1989. Adelson then joined the board of parent Time Warner and served briefly as its vice chairman.
The next two decades were not as kind to Adelson. He lost much of his fortune, in part because he held on to all of his Time Warner stock through the disastrous merger with America Online and also made some bad bets on new media. He filed for bankruptcy in 2003.
‘I lost a lot of money,’ Adelson said, adding, ‘It’s no secret much of it was lost in the AOL-Time Warner merger.’
As for his personal life, Adelson joked that he tells women that he is a ‘very physical 80.’ As for the odds of being married again, the unattached Adelson told this reporter to write ‘single’ in all caps.
-- Joe Flint
