Hearst Corporation

Hearst Communications Inc.

Hearst Tower in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
Type	Private
Industry	Mass media
Founded	March 4, 1887; 130 years ago (1887-03-04) San Francisco, California, United States
Founder	William Randolph Hearst
Headquarters	Hearst Tower Midtown Manhattan New York City, New York , United States
Key people	William Randolph Hearst III (Chairman) Frank A. Bennack, Jr. (Executive Vice Chairman) Steve Swartz (President and CEO)
Revenue	US$10.7 billion (2015)
Owner	Hearst family (100%)
Number of employees	20,000 (2014)
Divisions	Hearst Television Hearst Magazines Hearst Ventures Hearst Business Media Hearst Entertainment & Syndication Hearst Newspapers Verizon Hearst Media Partners (50%)
Subsidiaries	A+E Networks (50%) ESPN Inc. (20%) (minority share) King Features Syndicate Fitch Ratings (80%) Litton Entertainment (majority share) NorthSouth Productions (50%)
Website	hearst.com

Hearst Communications, often referred to as simply Hearst, is an American mass media and business information conglomerate. It owns a wide variety of newspapers, magazines, television channels, and television stations, including the San Francisco Chronicle, the Houston Chronicle, Cosmopolitan, Esquire, 50% of cable network A+E, and 20% of the sports broadcaster ESPN. Despite being better known for these media holdings, it makes most of its profits in the business information section, where it owns companies including First DataBank, Homecare Hombase, and 80% of Fitch Ratings.

The Hearst company is based in the Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was founded by William Randolph Hearst as an owner of newspapers, and the Hearst family remains involved in its ownership and management.

Under William Randolph Hearst's will, a common board of thirteen trustees (its composition fixed at five family members and eight outsiders) administers the Hearst Foundation, the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, and the trust that owns (and selects the 24-member board of) the Hearst Corporation. The foundations shared ownership until tax law changed to prevent this. As of 2014, the trustees are: