Sheldon Drobny

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Sheldon Drobny is an American accountant and successful investor, best known for forming the company that later became Air America Radio.

1 Career
2 Air America Radio
3 Fourth Estate Society
4 References/external links

[edit] Career

Drobny is Chairman Emeritus of Paradigm Group II, LLC, an investment firm that serves as managing partner of Paradigm Millennium Fund, LP, which entities together are a principal and largest shareholder of the Company.

Drobny is also a director of numerous portfolio companies of Paradigm Group II, LLC and was formerly a partner in the firm of Adler Drobny Fischer, LLC, Certified Public Accountants and Consultants. Drobny is a member of the NASD and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Illinois C.P.A Society and several other professional associations. Drobny is also a former IRS agent. He holds a BS degree in Accounting from Roosevelt University, 1967.

[edit] Air America Radio

Drobny began to pursue the start of a liberal radio network sometime in late 2002 or early 2003. He and his wife, Anita, sold the forerunner of Air America Radio to a group headed by Evan Montvel Cohen. Drobny and his wife had conceived the idea of starting a progressive talk radio network to compete with conservative talk radio. Drobny credits President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore in helping Air America Radio get started. Drobny claims Gore introduced him to Al Franken, helping AAR secure Franken as talent. [1]

In mid 2003, the Drobnys met Cohen through a meeting arranged by David Goodfriend, a former Clinton aide and Beloit College classmate of Cohen. Cohen and his partner purchased the rights to start up the new radio network. After Cohen and his partners at Progress Media, LLC ran out of operating capital, Drobny and other investors moved in through Piquant LLC and purchased the assets of the radio network.

Recently, the Drobneys joined with Mike Newcomb to create Nova M Radio, with the intent to purchase or manage radio stations in small and medium-sized markets and program progressive talk content, a mix of Air America Radio programming and local hosts. So far, Nova M is programming KPHX-AM in Phoenix, Arizona and KXDE-AM in Little Rock, Arkansas, with deals in other radio markets in the works.

[edit] Fourth Estate Society

Drobny is now also involved in the Fourth Estate Society, which has the stated goal of revitalizing the tradition of independent journalism in the United States.