William S. Paley Biography Quotes 5 Report mistakes

Early Life and Education
William Samuel Paley was born in Chicago on September 28, 1901, to Samuel Paley and Goldie Drell Paley, immigrants who built a prosperous cigar business. His father founded the Congress Cigar Company, whose La Palina brand, named in honor of Goldie, advertised heavily and taught the family how media could move product. The Paleys later based much of their business in Philadelphia, where William grew up with an early exposure to sales, promotion, and the power of persuasion. He studied at the University of Chicago and then at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in the early 1920s before joining the family firm.

From Cigars to Broadcasting
Working in Congress Cigar, Paley watched radio transform from a curiosity to a mass medium and saw that well-placed messages could lift a brand. In 1928, a Paley-led investment group acquired control of the struggling Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting System. He quickly recast it as the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and set out to prove that network broadcasting, financed by advertising rather than equipment sales, could be a dominant business. He approached stations with an offer they could not resist: join his network, carry superior programs, and receive compensation for airtime. The affiliate system he refined gave CBS national reach and influence.

Building the CBS Identity in Radio
Paley believed that programming quality and star power would distinguish CBS. He and his executives executed headline-making talent raids that brought Jack Benny, George Burns and Gracie Allen, and other marquee entertainers into the CBS fold. He embraced the idea that strong network schedules, rather than single sponsors, should shape listening habits. As news grew in importance, he backed an ambitious news operation and recruited Edward R. Murrow, whose reports from Europe, alongside colleagues such as Eric Sevareid, Charles Collingwood, and Howard K. Smith, defined broadcast journalism for a generation. Frank Stanton emerged as Paley's closest partner in management, complementing Paley's instincts with rigorous research and organizational discipline.

War Service and the Rise of CBS News
During World War II, Paley served as a U.S. Army colonel in psychological warfare in the European theater, experience that reinforced his understanding of the strategic power of mass communication. Back at CBS, he supported the growth of a news division that prized field reporting and editorial seriousness. Murrow's postwar collaborations with producer Fred W. Friendly on programs like See It Now set benchmarks for public-affairs programming, even when coverage courted controversy. Paley insisted on high standards while navigating the practical realities of sponsors, regulators, and a broad audience.

Television and the Tiffany Network
Sensing television's promise, Paley reoriented CBS around the new medium after the war. With Frank Stanton, he invested in network-owned stations, production facilities, and a programming slate that appealed to a national audience. Variety and comedy shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show, and situation comedies like I Love Lucy with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, became landmarks. Westerns and dramas, from Gunsmoke to anthology series, established the network's range. In news, Walter Cronkite emerged as a defining anchor, while producers like Don Hewitt helped invent new forms, most notably 60 Minutes with Mike Wallace, which fused investigative reporting with narrative craft. The combination of polish, depth, and star talent earned CBS its reputation as the Tiffany Network.

Strategy, Structure, and Corporate Growth
Paley's management approach mixed creative risk-taking with structural innovation. He refined affiliate compensation, used "option time" to shape schedules, and pushed the network to own or control rights where possible. Under his leadership, CBS acquired the American Record Corporation and built Columbia Records into a major label, and diversified into other businesses that complemented the core network. He presided over the construction of the CBS Building on West 52nd Street in Manhattan, the granite landmark designed by Eero Saarinen that symbolized CBS's stature. Through periods of regulatory change, audience shifts, and advertising cycles, Paley stayed focused on talent, research, and brand identity. He relied on trusted lieutenants, notably Stanton, to professionalize management, defend journalistic independence, and steward the network through television's explosive growth.

Art, Culture, and Philanthropy
Beyond broadcasting, Paley became one of America's notable collectors of modern art. He assembled significant works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Paul Cezanne, and Edgar Degas, and he played a central role at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Working with figures including David Rockefeller and curators and architects associated with MoMA, he helped strengthen the museum's governance and public profile. Paley saw connections between the visual modernism he admired and the standards he sought at CBS: clarity, craftsmanship, and respect for an audience's intelligence.

Personal Life and Relationships
Paley married Dorothy Hart Hearst in 1932; after their divorce, he married Barbara "Babe" Cushing Mortimer in 1947. Babe Paley became a style icon, and the couple's home life and philanthropy placed them at the center of New York's cultural and social circles. The people around Paley spanned boardrooms, newsrooms, studios, and galleries: executives like Frank Stanton; journalists like Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, Eric Sevareid, Charles Collingwood, and Mike Wallace; producers such as Fred W. Friendly and Don Hewitt; entertainers including Ed Sullivan, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, and Jack Benny; and civic leaders and patrons such as David Rockefeller. Those relationships were instrumental to the network he built and the institutions he supported.

Later Years and Legacy
In his later decades, Paley remained a commanding presence at CBS as chairman and, eventually, in more advisory roles as the media landscape shifted and new ownership structures emerged. He defended the brand he had created, even as competition intensified and corporate pressures mounted. William S. Paley died in New York on October 26, 1990. His legacy lives in the architecture of the modern American media company: national networks anchored by distinctive news divisions, star-driven entertainment, and a belief that editorial ambition and commercial success can reinforce each other. He left behind a transformed industry, a celebrated art collection, and an enduring example of how leadership, taste, and strategy can shape culture at scale.

Our collection contains 5 quotes who is written by William, under the main topics: Wisdom - Faith - Honesty & Integrity - Customer Service - God.