Crainsnewyork reports that Richard Parsons, a former chairman of Citigroup, Harlem business of Minton’s Playhouse and chief executive of Time Warner, has been named interim CEO of the Los Angeles Clippers.
The National Basketball Association said Mr. Parsons will oversee the day-to-day operations of the team and replace Andy Roeser, who had been appointed by Donald Sterling, the owner that the league is seeking to force out.
Mr. Parsons has never run a professional basketball team, but has stepped into thorny situations in the past. This past decade, he helped stabilize AOL Time Warner when that organization was struggling through what was generally considered the most ill-conceived corporate merger in history. During his tenure he gained some experience dealing with cantankerous owners, standing down dissident shareholder Carl Icahn who launched a proxy fight.
He later took the helm at Citi’s board when that bank was on the brink of collapse and a generation earlier helped steer Dime Savings Bank through the brink of collapse.
With that experience we think he’ll do a great job shepherding the Los Angeles Clippers in this transition and dealing with Donald Sterling.
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