Steve Ross (Time Warner CEO) - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Steve Ross was born Steven Jay Rechnitz on April 5, 1927 in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Jewish immigrants. His father, who lost all his money during the Great Depression, changed the family name to Ross in hope of finding work with fewer struggles. Ross attended Paul Smith's College for two years and then joined the U.S Navy. After his military service, he went to work at his uncle’s store in the Garment District in Manhattan.

At age 26 he married Carol Rosenthal, the daughter of a Manhattan funeral home owner, where he accepted employment. He worked full-time at the funeral parlor and further developed his penchant for new ventures. He noticed that the limousines that were being used for the funeral processions were not being used at night and quickly established a separate company that leased the vehicles in the evenings. The company was instantly profitable and his father-in-law impressed.

This successful venture led Ross to start his own company, Abbey Rent a Car, with a bank loan. He merged Abbey with a parking lot operator, the Kinney Parking Company, which was then owned by underworld crime figures Manny Kimmel and Abner Zwillman. He later added an office cleaning business (which was jointly owned by the funeral home and a cousin of Mr. Rosenthal). The resulting holding company, Kinney National Services, was taken public in 1962 with a market valuation of $12.5 million.

Ross served as company president and moved the firm from downtown Newark to 10 Rockefeller Plaza. In 1966, Kinney expanded into the entertainment business by purchasing the Ashley Famous talent agency and then in 1969, Kinney paid $400 million for the ailing Warner Bros.-Seven Arts film studio and record business. Two years later, after spinning off its non-entertainment assets, Kinney National Services renamed itself Warner Communications with Ross serving as co-CEO from 1969 to 1972.