Walter H. Annenberg

American entrepreneur who established a publishing empire. He was known as being autocratic, keeping a tight personal grasp on every facet of his business. Outspoken and critical, Annenberg was nonetheless a generous philanthropist, giving billions to charity and endowing two leading journalism schools. He was personally elegant, well dressed and conservative and a gracious host.

The only son among seven daughters of publisher Moses Annenberg, he inherited the Philadelphia Inquirer and two racing publications from his dad and went on to build Triangle Publications into a multi-billion-dollar business encompassing newspapers, magazines, and radio and television stations. In 1988, he sold remaining Triangle properties, including TV Guide, to magnate Rupert Murdoch for $3 billion. In 2002, Forbes magazine listed him as one of the wealthiest Americans, #39, with an estimated net worth of $4 billion.

Annenberg became a noted art connoisseur who in 1991 donated a collection of impressionist and early modern masterpieces valued at $1 billion to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. He spent five years in London as ambassador to the Court of St. James, appointed by President Nixon in 1969.

Annenberg died of complications from pneumonia on 1 October 2002 at his home in suburban Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Leonore, by his side.