| Farid Suleman | |
|---|---|
Suleman (left) at the Radio Hall of Fame’s 2007 Induction Ceremony at the Renaissance Chicago Hotel on Saturday, November 3, 2007. |
|
| Born | age 57[1] |
| Occupation | CEO and chairman of Citadel Broadcasting |
Farid Suleman has been the chairman and CEO of Citadel Broadcasting since March 2002.[2] He previously spent 16 years working for Infinity Broadcasting Corporation (now CBS Radio), owned by Viacom (now CBS Corporation).[3][4]
In late 2004, Suleman made headlines by cutting Howard Stern's radio show from four Citadel stations,[5] citing Stern's frequent discussions regarding his upcoming move to Sirius Satellite Radio.
In 2007, he was nominated for the Group Executive of the Year award by Radio & Records magazine. Other finalists included John Hogan of Clear Channel, Peter Smyth of Greater Media, David Field of Entercom, Lew Dickey of Cumulus, and Don Benson of Lincoln Financial.[6]
Farid Suleman was a director of Westwood One from February 1994 to February 2006, and Executive Vice President and CFO from February 1994 to March 2002. Suleman was also appointed to the positions of Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the CBS Station Group in June 1997. In CBS, he was later named Senior Vice President, Finance in August 1998.[7] He was Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and a director of Infinity Broadcasting, one of the largest advertising companies in the United States, from September 1998 to February 2001 when Infinity was acquired by Viacom. From February 2001 to February 2002, Mr. Suleman was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Infinity Broadcasting. As of April 2009, Suleman has been Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Citadel Broadcasting since March 2002.[3]
Under Suleman's watch, Citadel has gone from a relatively stable radio company to one that had to file for bankruptcy. This was a result of Suleman's failure to meet a periodic loan payment of approximately $125 million, which was due on January 15, 2010, at a time when the company was almost $3 billion in debt. Much of the debt was brought on by Suleman's decision to purchase ABC Radio in 2006, which made Citadel one of the largest radio operators in the country.
Many critics, most notably industry consultant Jerry Del Colliano, have been very critical of Suleman's management style. Despite assuming billions of dollars in debt, Suleman has been cited for only having an interest in trying to keep Citadel's bottom line numbers attractive. Suleman has done this through ruthless cost cutting in the form of personnel in all conceivable areas: on-air talent, management, promotions, and sales staffs. He has done little if anything to promote growth, innovation or investment in new media, especially in expanding mobile internet platform, where the advertising dollars which are critical to radio revenue are flowing in increasing numbers.