26 Facts About Walter Annenberg

Walter Hubert Annenberg was an American businessman, investor, philanthropist, and diplomat.

Walter Annenberg was appointed by President Richard Nixon as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, where he served from 1969 to 1974.

Walter Annenberg was born in Milwaukee and raised in New York.

Walter Annenberg attended the Wharton School, the business school at the University of Pennsylvania, though he dropped out to pursue a career as a businessman and stock investor.

Walter Annenberg built up his family's magazine business with great success, extending it into parts of the media industry such as radio and television.

Walter Annenberg paid for the renovation of Winfield House, the American ambassador's residence.

Walter Annenberg established the Annenberg Foundation in 1988 and personally gave over $2 billion to educational establishments and art galleries, including both the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism in Los Angeles.

Walter Annenberg was born to a Jewish family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on March 13,1908.

Walter Annenberg was the only son of Sadie Cecelia and Moses Annenberg, who published the Daily Racing Form and purchased The Philadelphia Inquirer in 1936.

Walter Annenberg had seven sisters: Diana Annenberg, Esther Annenberg Simon Levee, Janet Annenberg Hooker, Enid Annenberg Bensinger Haupt, Lita Annenberg Hazen, Evelyn Annenberg Jaffe Hall, and Harriet Beatrice Annenberg Ames Aronson.

The Annenberg family moved to Long Island, New York, in 1920, and Walter attended high school at the Peddie School in Hightstown, New Jersey, graduating in 1927.

Walter Annenberg dropped out of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, never attaining a college degree.

Walter Annenberg was greatly affected by tax evasion charges and other scandals involving his father in the 1930s.

Walter Annenberg bought additional print media as well as radio and television stations, resulting in great success.

In 1966, Walter Annenberg used the Inquirer to cast doubt on the candidacy of Democrat Milton Shapp for governor of Pennsylvania.

Walter Annenberg, who was the biggest individual stockholder of the Pennsylvania Railroad, wanted to see the merger succeed and he was frustrated with Shapp's opposition.

In 1969, under pressure after the Shapp controversy, Walter Annenberg sold The Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News, which he bought in 1957, to Knight Newspapers for $55 million.

Walter Annenberg served on the advisory board of US English, an organization that supports making English the official language of the United States.

Walter Annenberg became a champion of public television, receiving many awards, including the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1985, the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Reagan in 1986, the Linus Pauling Medal for Humanitarianism, the 1988 Eisenhower Medal for Leadership and Service, was made a Knight of the Order of St Gregory the Great in 1998, and was named an Officer of the French Legion of Honor.

Walter Annenberg was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1990 and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1995.

Walter Annenberg sold Triangle Publications to Australian publishing magnate Rupert Murdoch in 1988 for $3 billion, announcing that he would devote his life to philanthropy.

Walter Annenberg was a member of the Founding Council of the Rothermere American Institute at Oxford University, helping to raise funds for the institute's building and library.

Walter Annenberg was named Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia's Person of the Year in 1983 and was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame in 1992.

Roger died by suicide in 1962; to commemorate his death, Harvard University, where Roger was a student at the time, now has a Roger Walter Annenberg Hall named in his honor.

Walter Annenberg died at his home in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, on October 1,2002, from complications of pneumonia; he was 94 years old.

Walter Annenberg was survived by his wife, Leonore ; his daughter, Wallis; and two sisters, Enid A Haupt and Evelyn Hall.