David I Saperstein
| David I. Saperstein | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1941 (age 75–76) Baltimore |
| Occupation | businessman |
| Known for | founder of Metro Networks |
| Spouse(s) | Phyllis Grief (divorced) Suzanne Carlstrand (divorced) Hillevi Svensson |
| Children |
with Grief: --Ethan Saperstein --Makenna Saperstein |
with Grief:
--Michelle Saperstein Coppola
--Jennifer Saperstein Kalapoutis
with Carlstrand:
--Jonathan Saperstein
--Alexis Saperstein
--Stefanie Saperstein
David I. Saperstein (born 1941) is an American entrepreneur and founder of Metro Networks.
Saperstein was born to Jewish parents in Baltimore. He dropped out of college to sell used cars. When he got stuck in a snowstorm he came up with the idea to sell traffic reports on the radio. He used his Ford Dealership to start his new venture in Baltimore. When Ford withdrew its support of Saperstein and he lost his dealership, he founded Metro Networks in 1978. the company grew to serve over 1,500 radio stations in the U.S. In 1996, Saperstein decided to take Metro Networks public under the Nasdaq exchange, stock symbol MTNT. He made his fortune when he sold the company to Westwood One in 1999 for $1.25 billion in stock. Now he operates tree farms in Texas and Florida: "It's a growing business," he once told a reporter for Forbes magazine.
Saperstein began his career selling used cars in Baltimore, but quickly found there was a niche for radio programming to include traffic reports. While traffic reporting was already a part of radio programming in some cities, Saperstein found there was no single company providing concise reports for stations, either regionally or nationally.
In 1978 he founded Metro Networks, in Houston, Texas. The company grew, through the 1980s, into a veritable traffic reporting empire, and in 1996, Saperstein took the company public on the Nasdaq exchange.
In 1992, Saperstein's daughter married Shane Coppola in Baltimore, Maryland in a wedding that was described as "the social event of the season in the nation's capital." The wedding is referenced in the 1993 film Dave, starring Kevin Kline.
In 1998, Saperstein, with his son-in-law, Coppola, began negotiating a merger agreement with Westwood One, and in September 1999 three companies merged, Metro Networks, Copter Acquisition Corp. and Westwood One.
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