GILBERT MAURER

MAURER--Gilbert C. Gilbert C. Maurer, director and former chief operating officer of Hearst and trustee of the trust established under the will of William Randolph Hearst, died April 6 at his home in Palm Beach, FL. He was 96. Maurer joined Hearst in 1973 and was named president of Hearst Magazines three years later. He rose to become Hearst's chief operating officer in 1990. In 1998, he announced his retirement but remained a trustee of the Hearst Family trust and director of Hearst corporation until his death. He was also a director of the Hearst Foundations. "Gil Maurer lived a remarkable life," said Steven R. Swartz, Hearst president and CEO. "He helped build the modern Hearst corporation and kept working on it until the day he died. He was an artist, a civic leader, a savvy investor and philanthropist, and with his wife Ann he built a great family and found time to travel the world many times over. Our Hearst colleagues and I learned so many life lessons from Gil and we are forever in his debt." "Gil's contributions to Hearst were nothing less than extraordinary," said Frank A. Bennack, Jr., executive vice chairman and former CEO of Hearst. "For almost 50 years, he was my partner in general management, and during that time, Hearst became one of the fastest-growing media companies in the world. His performance as head of Hearst Magazines was superb, and he was my partner in the expansion of our newspaper publishing, cable networking, broadcasting and new media interests as well. The entire company and Hearst family feel his loss deeply. He will be missed." Maurer was a force for growth and creativity at Hearst for over 50 years. He was integral at championing change and broadening Hearst's business operations, and his impact is evident today throughout all of Hearst's varied companies and teams worldwide. As chief operating officer, he was instrumental in Hearst's diversification as it expanded its broadcast and digital media and other new business ventures. As president of Hearst Magazines for 14 years, ad revenues more than quadrupled during his tenure. Maurer was equally visionary in Hearst's broadcast activities, which led to the company's expansion in television and its involvement and success in cable. In 1997, he helped create Hearst-Argyle Television, today Hearst Television, one of the country's largest television station groups. He and Bennack also worked closely to identify and invest in cable, first in the creation of Lifetime, A&E and HISTORY networks, followed by an investment in ESPN. His business acumen aside, Maurer was also an accomplished artist and philanthropist. In fact, his lineage includes a distinguished family background of artists, including Alfred Maurer (1868-1932), who has been described as America's first modernist painter. Maurer and his late wife Ann were married 69 years. They were committed to their family and, 30 years ago, created the Maurer Family Foundation with the purpose of bringing the family together in support of the arts in America. Meredith Hutchison, Maurer's daughter and president of the foundation said, "We are deeply saddened by the loss of our father but are grateful for our parents' incredible legacy and the chance to carry on their wishes through the family foundation." 2024 saw an important accolade for Gil Maurer: Bonnie McElveen- Hunter, former ambassador to Finland, commissioned an orchestral piece written by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Zwilich to honor his artworks and life that debuted in February, performed by the Palm Beach Symphony. Maurer was also an honorary trustee of the Norman Foster Foundation, which promotes interdisciplinary thinking and research to guide new generations of architects, designers and urbanists as they build for the future. He has long held a deep love for both the arts and architecture, which made this honor a natural fit. He was instrumental in hiring Norman Foster to design Hearst Tower in 1999 -- a move that would change not only New York City's skyline forever but the image of Hearst itself. Maurer was a trustee of the Whitney Museum of American Art, serving as president of the Whitney Museum Board from 1993 to 1998. He was also a trustee and director of the Norton Museum of Art in Palm Beach, FL, where he was honored for his contributions in the notable expansion of the museum. Additionally, he was a vice chairman and director of the Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach, a member of the Dean's Council at the Yale School of Architecture, an overseer of the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in Los Angeles, a member of the Greater New York Advisory Board of The Salvation Army and a member of the Board of Managers of the New York Botanical Gardens. He was a chairman of the Board of Visitors of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and member of the Board of Visitors to the art museums at Harvard University. Maurer is predeceased by his spouse Ann E. Maurer, and survived by their five children, Christopher, David, Peter, Jonathan and Meredith, their spouses, 11 grandchildren and four great-grand- children. Arrangements are being made for memorial services in Palm Beach and New York City. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made in Maurer's honor to the Norton Museum, The Society of the Four Arts, the Whitney Museum of American Art and Yale School of Architecture.