Clear Channel Founder Lowry Mays Dead at Age 87

RADIO ONLINE | Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Lowry Mays

Clear Channel founder Lowry Mays died on Monday at the age of 87. The announcement of his death was made by his alma mater, and the namesake of its business school, Texas A&M University. Mays founded the San Antonio Broadcasting Company back in 1972 and the name was later changed to Clear Channel Communications. He was inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame in 1999 and Radio Hall of Fame in 2004. The Broadcasters Foundation also has the Lowry Mays Excellence in Broadcasting Award, bestowed on individuals whose work in broadcasting exemplifies innovation, community service, advocacy and entrepreneurship.

Mays merged Clear Channel with Jacor in 1998 in a $3.4 billion deal adding over 450 radio stations. In 1999, It purchased AMFM in a deal valued at $17.4 billion bring the station count to 850. Mays suffered a stroke in 2005 and his son Mark assumed day-to-day operation of Clear Channel. In 2011 Bob Pittman was named CEO and soon after the company was renamed iHeartMedia.

Broadcasters Foundation of America Chairman Scott Herman said, "The Broadcasters Foundation of America mourns the loss of one its longtime supporters, Lowry Mays. One of radio's most prominent leaders, Mays established the Lowry Mays Excellence in Broadcasting Award, which is bestowed annually at the Broadcasters Foundation breakfast to an individual whose work in broadcasting exemplifies innovation, community service, advocacy, and entrepreneurship. We send our condolences to the Mays family."

NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt said, "NAB is saddened by the passing of Lowry Mays, a trailblazing icon whose historic career revolutionized and reshaped the broadcasting industry. He founded and built one of the foremost media companies in the world through bold and innovative thinking, while his philanthropic and generous spirit helped countless people during his lifetime of service. We extend our deepest condolences to the Mays family and the iHeartMedia community."

Mays was a 1957 graduate of Texas A&M University, earning a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering. He served two non-consecutive terms (1985-1991 and 2001-2007) on The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, including as chairman from 2003-2005.

"A really big tree fell in the Aggie forest today," said Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp. "We will never forget what he did for Aggieland." Texas A&M's school of business was endowed by Mays in 1996 with a $15 million gift and was renamed the Lowry Mays College & Graduate School of Business. The university renamed the school once more in 2002 to Mays Business School. In 2017, the Mays Family Foundation gifted an additional $25 million, the largest single commitment in the business school's history. Both gifts were part of an overall lifetime giving of $47 million."