Richard Parsons, ex Time Warner Chair, to be Commerce Sec?

[redstate_democrat]

Former Time Warner Chairman and CEO is under consideration as possible replacement for Bill Richardson at Commerce.

Parsons, a onetime Ford White House aide and former Dime Bank executive, ran Social Security study group in Bush era.

Parsons officially left Time Warner in December 2008. He was also a member of Obama's Transition Economic Advisory Board.
http://thepage.time.com/2009/01/06/parsons-to-commerce/

Former Chairman of the Board, Time Warner
Richard D. Parsons is the former Chairman of the Board of Time Warner, whose businesses include filmed entertainment, interactive services, television networks, cable systems and publishing. From May 2002 to December 2007, Mr. Parsons served as Time Warner's Chief Executive Officer. In May 2003, he became Chairman of the Board, a position he held until December 2008.

As CEO, Mr. Parsons led Time Warner's turnaround and set the company on a solid path toward achieving sustainable growth. In the process, he put in place the industry's most experienced and successful management team, strengthened the company's balance sheet and simplified its corporate structure, and carried out a disciplined approach to realigning the company's portfolio of assets to improve returns. In its January 2005 report on America's Best CEOs, Institutional Investor magazine named Mr. Parsons the top CEO in the entertainment industry.

Mr. Parsons joined Time Warner as its President in February 1995, and has been a member of the company's Board of Directors since January 1991. As President, he oversaw the company's filmed entertainment and music businesses, and all corporate staff functions, including financial activities, legal affairs, public affairs and administration.

Before becoming President of Time Warner, Mr. Parsons was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Dime Bancorp, Inc., one of the largest thrift institutions in the United States. Previously, he was the managing partner of the New York law firm Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler. Prior to that, he held various positions in state and federal government, as counsel for Nelson Rockefeller and as a senior White House aide under President Gerald Ford. Mr. Parsons received his undergraduate education at the University of Hawaii and his legal training at Union University's Albany Law School.

Mr. Parsons' civic and non-profit commitments include Co-Chairman of the Mayor's Commission on Economic Opportunity in New York; Chairman Emeritus of the Partnership for New York City; Chairman of the Apollo Theatre Foundation and service on the boards of Howard University, the Museum of Modern Art and the American Museum of Natural History. He also serves on the boards of Citigroup and Estée Lauder.
http://www.timewarner.com/corp/management/corp_executives/bio/parsons_richard.html