Rob Glaser, Air America Investment Losses

SPOTLIGHT: GLASER

In AAR 'Investment', RealNetworks CEO Lost Shirt






(Note: many new updates at SaveWRKO.com)

Though he's lost more on failed Air America Radio investments than anyone else by far, RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser has so far generally been able to avoid much public attention over the matter. Beyond the O'Reilly Factor, The Smoking Gun and your Radio Equalizer, we can't think of too many places where Glaser's amazing libtalk losses have been highlighted.

With a lengthy new feature story in the Seattle Weekly, however, Glaser's finding unwelcome attention focused on his crazy cash infusions and even worse, in his own hometown.

Not surprisingly, Glaser refused to even speak to a Weekly reporter, even though the paper has a very liberal reputation:

He Wuz Rob-bed

For Seattle's biggest-spending liberal benefactor, bankrupt Air America was a costly flyer. By Rick Anderson



Deep-pocketed political donor Rob Glaser undertook his biggest-ever political investment in 2004 when he handed over $10 million to prop up lefty talk-show network Air America Radio, giving him 36.7 percent ownership. But while the founder and CEO of Seattle-based RealNetworks Inc. successfully helped fund the 2006 Democratic revolt in Congress, he has been bloodied attempting a similar revolution in progressive talk radio.

The network's challenge to Rush Limbaugh and other conservative talkers for the nation's hearts, minds, and ad revenues has ended up in bankruptcy, and Glaser, chair of the Air America board the past two years, faces millions in personal losses.

He had already surrendered his network chairmanship by the time Air America Radio (AAR) and its parent corporation, Piquant LLC—Glazer's investment group—filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October hoping to stay on the air while it reorganized and worked out a deal with its creditors, the biggest of which is Glaser. According to federal court records in New York, the network has $20.2 million in liabilities and $4.3 million in assets.

Glaser's invest- ment share is listed at $9.8 million, which he most likely will lose, in addition to $475,000 he loaned the company — albeit small change to Glaser, whose personal worth is estimated by Fortune at close to $1 billion.

His company, RealNetworks, is also owed $85,000, and former RealNetworks exec Eileen Quigley of Seattle is owed $29,000 in back wages and compensation, according to the filings.

But even new ownership will have a struggle to keep the network together. Aside from the financial hole it has dug—including more than $300,000 in back rent on its New York studios, according to court filings—its talk headliner, comedian and author Al Franken, is expected to resign this year and run for the U.S. Senate from Minnesota. (He's also listed in the 25 pages of network creditors as seeking more than $360,000 in back pay).

As the network's chief moneybags, Glaser could have a more direct role in progressive politicking compared to the supporter role he'd played as campaign donor. Based on a review of public disclosure reports, Glaser has been the largest single local donor to national political campaigns and causes in recent years—$2.4 million since 2003, almost exclusively to Democrats.

That includes $1.9 million to America Coming Together, a Democratic get-out-the-vote drive, and $250,000 to America Votes, a progressive grassroots voter effort. He gave thousands as well to presidential campaigners Ralph Nader, John Kerry, and John Edwards and to a host of Democratic U.S. senators including Patty Murray and former RealNetworks exec Maria Cantwell.

Glaser doesn't want to discuss his Air America role. "Rob has not been conducting interviews on this topic," says RealNetworks spokesperson Bill Hankes. But Glaser, 44, is sensitive to the drawbacks of mixing politics and business: When the former Microsoft executive launched RealNetworks in 1993, he initially dubbed it Progressive Networks, planning to deliver some sort of "socially conscious" content, as he called it, over the Internet, then had second thoughts when customers became more interested in the company's technology.

In 1995, Glaser and partner David Halperin broadcast the first live event on the Internet: a socially progressive Mariners-Yankees baseball game. (Glaser is a part-owner of the M's.) Real's steady success has been pegged to its RealPlayer media-streaming software, though Glaser has recently introduced gaming and MP3 technology ("celestial jukeboxes" in Glaser's words) to its product line. In November, Real announced record third-quarter revenue of $94 million and profit of $42 million.

Always interesting to see the left's perspective on this, isn't it? To them, Glaser's real crime is that money wasted on Air America could have instead gone to fund so- called "progressive" candidates.

Perhaps Air America really was a right- wing plot all along: a way to separate wealthy "progressives" from their potential campaign contributions.

Your Amazon orders that begin with clicks here, regardless of what you ultimately select for purchase, greatly help to support this site's efforts. Thanks!

Technorati tags: rob glaser air america seattle realnetworks talk radio liberal talk radio al franken seattle weekly

Glaser photo: joi.typepad.com