Fred Eychaner

Fred Eychaner
Born	1945 (age 71–72) DeKalb, Illinois
Nationality	United States
Occupation	businessman
Known for	Chairman of Newsweb Corporation
Parent(s)	Mildred and Howard Eychaner
Relatives	Rich Eychaner (brother)

Fred Eychaner (born c. 1945) is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist.

Eychaner is the Chairman of Newsweb Corporation. He was included in Chicago magazine's 2014 list of the 100 most powerful Chicagoans. In 2005, the Chicago Tribune estimated his wealth at $500 million. In 2015, he was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame.

Eychaner was born to a middle-class Methodist family in DeKalb, Illinois, the son of Mildred (Lovett) and Howard Franklin Eychaner. His father owned a moving and storage business. He has three siblings, including Iowa businessman Rich Eychaner. He attended the Medill School of Journalism.

In the late 1970s, Eychaner founded Metrowest Corporation, which would eventually become Newsweb, which prints a wide variety of newspapers. It was in 1982 that, through Metrowest, he launched Chicago television station WPWR-TV Channel 50 in Chicago. It was also in 1982 that, alongside Chicago White Sox owners Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn, he was involved in the launching of the subscription sports television service Sportsvision. The service was sold to Cablevision Systems Corporation in 1984, who converted it into a basic cable service. In 2002, WPWR was sold to Fox Television Stations for a reported $425 million. Then, in 2005, through Newsweb, he launched Chicago radio station WCPT (820 AM), branded as Chicago's Progressive Talk.

He is President of the charitable organization Alphawood Foundation which granted the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London £20m in 2013. Eychaner has given the Clinton Foundation more than $25 million. He is also credited with getting the long-delayed FDR Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island in New York finally constructed.

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