Frank Joseph Biondi Jr. (January 9, 1945 – November 25, 2019) was an American businessman and entertainment executive, who held leadership roles at Viacom, Universal Pictures, and HBO. ^[1]

Early life and education

Biondi was born in New York City, to Virginia Willis and Frank Biondi Sr., and was raised in Livingston, New Jersey. ^[2] His father was a former executive at Bell Telephone Company. Biondi graduated from Livingston High School in 1964 and was inducted into the school's hall of fame in 1994. ^[3] He graduated with an A.B. in psychology from Princeton University in 1966 after completing an 81-page long senior thesis titled "The Use of a Biographical Inventory for Junior Executive Recruitment in a Large Retail Firm." ^[4] He later received a M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. ^[5]

Career

In 1968, Biondi got his start as a financial analyst and investment banker on Wall Street for Cogan, Berlind, Weill & Levitt. ^{[1] [6]} There, he met Clarence B. Jones, who recommended him for a consulting job at TelePrompTer Corporation, one of the largest cable companies at the time. ^[6] However, TelePrompTer had defrauded its investors by misrepresenting their cash flow. ^{[7] [8]} In response, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission placed a trade block on their stock for around 100 days, which tanked its valuation. ^[6] Biondi was let go as a result of corporate restructuring. He later found employment with the nonprofit, Children’s Television Workshop (CTW), who produced Sesame Street and The Electric Company, in 1974. ^{[5] [6]} After a tumultuous time at TelePrompTer, he cites the relatively "nice, safe" environment of a non-profit as the reason he chose the job at CTW. ^[1]

Michael J. Fuchs recruited Biondi to HBO in 1978 as head of co-productions. ^[5] Biondi initially expressed disinterest in joining and rejected their initial offer. ^[5] He later became the president and CEO in 1983. ^[5] Fuchs replaced him as HBO CEO the following year. ^[9]

In 1985, Biondi went on to serve as external vice president for Coca-Cola's entertainment business sector. ^[10] In 1986, Coca-Cola consolidated its television companies — Columbia Pictures Television, Embassy Communications, and Merv Griffin Enterprises — into Coca-Cola Television, and Biondi was tapped to serve as its CEO. ^[10] Coca-Cola Television was eventually spun off and sold to TriStar Pictures in 1987. ^[11] TriStar subsequently renamed itself Columbia Pictures and its founder, Victor Kaufman, continued his role as CEO of the merged company. ^[11]

Biondi was the president and CEO of Viacom from 1987 to 1996 ^[5] and the chairman and CEO of Universal Pictures from 1996 to 1998. ^[12]

Afterwards, he co-founded the media and technology focused investment firm WaterView Advisors in 1999. ^[9]

Biondi was an avid tennis player and helped finance the creation of the Tennis Channel with fellow former Viacom CEOs Philippe Dauman and Thomas E. Dooley in 2001. ^[13] Together they are known as the "Viacom mafia". ^[13] At his summer residence in Martha's Vineyard, he was a board member for the Vineyard Family Tennis Foundation. ^[14]

In the later part of his life, Biondi was a director of RealD, Amgen, Cablevision, Caesars Entertainment Corporation, Hasbro, Yahoo!, Viasat, and Seagate. ^[15]

Personal life

Biondi met Carol Oughton while working at the TelePrompTer Corporation. ^[6] In 1974, the couple wed and together, they had two daughters, Anne Biondi Simonds and Jane Biondi Munna. His son-in-law is film producer Robert Simonds. ^[16]

Biondi died from bladder cancer at his home in Los Angeles on November 25, 2019. He was 74 years old. ^[9]

References

External links

• Frank Biondi's profile on Forbes^{[ dead link]}