Who was Richard Parsons married to? All about wife and children as former Time Warner CEO dies at 76

Richard Parsons, former Time Warner CEO, has passed away at the age of 76. The news was confirmed by his friend Ronald S. Lauder (chairman of the board of Estee Lauder) in a statement made to the New York Times, adding he passed away on Thursday, December 26, 2024, due to bone cancer.

A statement on Lazard, a financial company where Parsons was a longtime board member, read:

"Dick’s wisdom and guidance helped shape our firm over the past decade. We honor his legacy while mourning this loss."

The statement continued:

"He was a testament to how wisdom, warmth, and unwavering judgment could shape not just companies, but people's lives. His legacy lives on in the countless leaders he counseled, the institutions he renewed, and the doors he opened for others."

Parsons is a businessman best remembered for helping Time Warner and Citigroup navigate their respective corporate emergencies and helping Dime Bancorp with their losses during the savings and loan crisis in the 1980s.

Parsons married Laura Ann Bush in 1968, and they share three children: Gregory, Leslie, and Rebecca.

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Richard Parsons's connection with Nelson Rockefeller earned him a position on Time Warner's board

According to a 2011 profile on Richard Parsons by Bloomberg, he was born in Brooklyn on April 4, 1948, to Lorenzo Locklair Parsons, an electrical technician, and Isabelle, a homemaker. He graduated with a juris doctor from the Albany Law School of Union University, New York, in 1971, finishing at the top of his class.

According to a 2001 New York Times profile on Richard Parsons, following his graduation, the businessman interned at the New York State legislature, where he worked under New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller. He followed Rockefeller to Washington, DC, when he was appointed vice president of the United States (1974) under Gerald Ford.

While in D.C., Richard Parsons met Rudolph W. Giuliani (former NY Mayor). The pair worked at the law firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler after their stint in office in 1977. Two years later, Parsons became a partner at the company. According to his biography in Encyclopedia of the World, during his 11 years at the firm, he represented Rockefeller's widow, Happy.

Per NYT (2001), Richard Parsons was appointed as the chief operating officer of the Dime Savings Bank of New York in 1988 by Harry W. Albright Jr. (then-CEO), a Nelson aide. At the time, the bank struggled through the savings & loan crisis after approving high-risk mortgages as housing prices crashed. By 1993, Parson helped the bank complete a $300 million recapitalization.

The Rockefeller connection would later help Parsons to be invited to join Time Warner's board in 1992 (Nelson's brother's recommendation). By 1995, he had become president of the company.

Richard D. Parsons (Image via Getty)

He helped (by selling off properties like the Atlanta Hawks and Warner Music Group) the company reduce the massive debt built up by the merger with AOL (America Online). Per a January 2010 article by Fortune, it was dubbed the "worst merger of all time." In December 2001, Richard Parsons became the CEO of Time Warner (then AOL Time Warner; name changed in 2003).

Parsons stepped down as CEO in 2007 and resigned as its chairman a year later. In 2009, he became chairman of Citigroup when the banking company faced a financial crisis. In May 2014, he was named the interim CEO of the Los Angeles Clippers (owner Donald Sterling was banned for racist remarks).

Parsons also focused his attention on humanitarian causes. He served as the chairman of the board at the Jazz Foundation of America (a nonprofit). He also served on the board of the Rockefeller Foundation since 2008.

According to Lazard's statement, he was chairman of the Apollo Theater and held board positions at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

According to a September 2016 article by Fortune, Richard Parsons was diagnosed with multiple myeloma (blood cancer) in 2015. He went into remission after stem-cell therapy.

Richard Parsons briefly served as the interim chairman of CBS Corp. in 2018 after Leslie Moonves's resignation due to alleged s*xual misconduct. However, due to health issues, he soon stepped down.

Parsons is survived by his wife, Laura, and kids.