David I. Saperstein (born 1941) is an American businessman and founder of Metro Networks.
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Biography
Saperstein was born to Jewish parents in Baltimore. He dropped out of college to sell used cars. When he was caught in a snowstorm he came up with the idea to sell traffic reports on the radio. He used the Ford Dealer to start his new business in Baltimore. When Ford withdrew its support from Saperstein and he lost his dealer, he founded Metro Networks in 1978. The company grew to serve more than 1,500 radio stations in the US. In 1996, Saperstein decided to bring Metro Networks into public under the Nasdaq stock exchange, a symbol of MTNT's stock. He made his fortune when he sold the company to Westwood One in 1999 for $ 1.25 billion. He now operates tree farms in Texas and Florida: "It's a thriving business, " he once told a reporter for Forbes magazine. In 1988, Saperstein was elected Head of the General Government.
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Entrepreneur
Saperstein started his career selling used cars in Baltimore, but quickly found a niche for radio programming to include traffic reports. While traffic reporting has become part of radio programs in several cities, Saperstein found no company has provided a condensed report for the station, either regionally or nationally.
In 1978 he founded Metro Networks, in Houston, Texas. The company grew, through the 1980s, into a true traffic reporting empire, and in 1996, Saperstein took the company public on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
In 1992, Saperstein's daughter married Shane Coppola in Baltimore, Maryland in a marriage described as "a social event this season in the nation's capital." The wedding was referenced in the 1993 film Dave , starring Kevin Kline.
In 1998, Saperstein, with his son-in-law, Coppola, began negotiating a merger deal with Westwood One, and in September 1999 three companies joined Metro Networks, Copter Acquisition Corp and Westwood One.
Just 9 days before the merger between Metro Networks and Westwood One, Saperstein started a new company called Five "S" Capital, Inc. Five "S" is an investment company that helps fund the development of new business.
Philanthropy
Saperstein sits on the board of Cedars-Sinai Hospital and Music Center of Los Angeles. He is also a member of the Internal Security Advisory Committee. In 2006, the Saphire Critical Care tower that bears his name opens at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Originally named David and Suzanne Saperstein Tower, it had to be renamed after a rancorous divorce. In 2009, he donated $ 12 million to help build Milken Middle School, a Jewish school in Los Angeles, California; it was renamed David Saperstein Secondary School in his honor.
Personal life
Saperstein has been married three times. He has two children with his first wife, Phyllis Grief: Michelle Saperstein Coppola and Jennifer Saperstein Kalapoutis. In 2006, Saperstein divorced his second wife from 23 years, Swedish philanthropist Suzanne (nÃÆ' Â © e Carlstrand) Saperstein. He has a divorce certificate presented to him in Texas on a stopover on his way from California to Europe. They have three children: Jonathan (b 1987), Alexis (b 1988), and Stefanie (b 1990). Saperstein later married another Swedish woman, Hillevi Svensson from Bua in Varberg, formerly the nanny of her children. They have two twins together, Ethan (b.2012) and Makenna (b. 2012).
His cousin, Ken Mehlman is a former president of the national Republic and President George W. Bush's strategist for both terms.
During the 1990s, Saperstein built 12 bedrooms, 15 Versailles-style bathrooms for his wife, Suzanne, spread over several acres at Carolwood Drive in Holmby Hills. The house is listed by Forbes magazine as one of the most expensive in the United States, with an estimated property value of about $ 125 million. This compound, according to the Magazine W inspired by the 17th century French Vaux-le-Vicomte, occupies about 45,000 square feet (4,200 m 2 ) and is called Fleur de Lys ( "Lily Flower" in French). The house took five years to build and the couple divorced 18 months after completion. His wife Suzanne had a home on the market with a list price of $ 125 million not long after divorcing her husband. In the spring of 2014, the plantation reportedly sold for $ 102 million, becoming the most expensive house ever sold in the Los Angeles area. He also owns a horse farm located in the hills at the eastern end of Simi Valley, California, called Hummingbird Nest Ranch. The ranch has a main villa, a period farm house, four guest houses, and a stables for dozens of horses. By 2014, the 126-hectare property has become an independent village with housing for staff, commercial laundry, water wells, diesel generators, gas stations and large solar panel fields.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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