On the recordSeptember 29, 2010
on Tuesday, September 7, 2010, John Kluge passed away at a family home in Charlottesville, VA. He was 95. Mr. Kluge was a successful businessman who parlayed the money he earned from a Fritos franchise into a multibillion-dollar communications company, Metromedia. This conglomerate grew to include 7 television stations, 14 radio stations, outdoor advertising, the Harlem Globetrotters, the Ice Capades, radio paging and mobile telephones. Mr. Kluge was born on September 21, 1914, in Chemnitz, Germany. His father died in World War I. After his mother remarried, John was brought to America in 1922 by his German-American stepfather to live in Detroit. He began work at the age of 10, working for his stepfather's family contracting business. At the age of 14, he left home to live in the house of a schoolteacher, driving by his desire to have an education. He worked hard to learn and speak well the English language and get the grades he needed in high school to win a scholarship to college. He first attended Detroit City College, which was later renamed Wayne State University, and transferred to Columbia University when he was offered a full scholarship and living expenses. He graduated from Columbia in 1937 and went to work for a small paper company in Detroit. Within 3 years he went from shipping clerk to vice president and part owner.
