The Accidental Empire Builder
Sidney Harman never intended to become one of America's most unlikely media moguls. In August 2010, at the age of 91, he shocked the publishing world by purchasing the struggling Newsweek magazine for the symbolic sum of one dollar—plus the assumption of its crushing debt load of approximately $70 million. The move seemed quixotic, even reckless, for a nonagenarian whose fortune had been built not in media but in the precise engineering of high-fidelity audio equipment.
Yet this late-career pivot was entirely consistent with the contrarian spirit that had defined Harman's seven-decade business career. From his Depression-era childhood in New York to his transformation of a small audio components company into a global luxury brand worth billions, Harman had always zigged when conventional wisdom suggested zagging. His acquisition of Newsweek—a magazine hemorrhaging readers and advertisers in the digital age—was simply the final, audacious gambit of a man who had spent his life betting against the obvious.
The Foundation Years
Born on August 4, 1918, in Montreal to Russian Jewish immigrants, Sidney Harman grew up in the Bronx during the economic turbulence of the 1920s and 1930s. His father, a small-time businessman, instilled in him both an entrepreneurial spirit and a deep skepticism of established authority. "My father taught me that the conventional wisdom is usually wrong," Harman would later reflect. "The trick is figuring out when."
This lesson would prove prophetic. After graduating from Bernard Baruch College in 1939 with a degree in business administration, Harman took a job at an electronics company, where he met Bernard Kardon, an audio engineer eight years his senior. The two men bonded over their shared frustration with the poor quality of consumer audio equipment available in the early 1940s. While most manufacturers prioritized cost-cutting over sound quality, Harman and Kardon believed there was an untapped market for premium audio components that could reproduce music with unprecedented fidelity.
In 1953, with $5,000 in combined savings, they founded Harman Kardon in a cramped workshop in Westbury, Long Island. Their first product, the Festival D1000 receiver, incorporated several innovative features, including a unified control system that simplified the operation of complex audio components. Priced at $189.50—roughly $1,800 in today's dollars—it was expensive by contemporary standards, but it delivered sound quality that audiophiles had never experienced in a consumer product.
By the Numbers
The Harman Kardon Launch
$5,000Initial investment by Harman and Kardon in 1953
$189.50Price of the Festival D1000 receiver (equivalent to $1,800 today)
8 yearsAge difference between Harman and his partner Bernard Kardon
The High-Fidelity Revolution
The timing of Harman Kardon's launch coincided with a cultural shift that would define the next two decades of American consumer behavior. The post-war economic boom had created a new class of affluent suburbanites with disposable income and sophisticated tastes. Simultaneously, the rise of long-playing vinyl records and FM radio broadcasting created demand for audio equipment capable of reproducing the full dynamic range of recorded music.
Harman recognized that this convergence represented more than just a business opportunity—it was a chance to democratize what had previously been the exclusive domain of wealthy audiophiles and recording studios. "We weren't just selling amplifiers and receivers," he later explained. "We were selling the experience of hearing music the way the artist intended it to be heard."
The company's breakthrough came in 1958 with the introduction of the Citation series, a line of separate components that allowed consumers to build custom audio systems. The Citation I preamplifier and Citation II power amplifier, designed by Stewart Hegeman, achieved specifications that rivaled professional studio equipment while remaining accessible to serious music lovers. Audio magazines hailed the Citation series as a revolution in consumer electronics, and sales exploded.
By 1962, Harman Kardon had grown from a two-man operation to a company with over 200 employees and annual revenues exceeding $10 million. The success attracted the attention of larger corporations, and in 1969, Harman made the strategic decision to sell the company to Jervis Corporation for $100 million in stock—a transaction that made him one of the wealthiest men in the audio industry.
We weren't just selling amplifiers and receivers. We were selling the experience of hearing music the way the artist intended it to be heard.
— Sidney Harman
The Conglomerate Years
The sale of Harman Kardon marked the beginning of Harman's transformation from entrepreneur to corporate executive. As president of Jervis Corporation's consumer electronics division, he oversaw the expansion of the Harman Kardon brand into new product categories, including car audio systems and professional sound equipment. However, the corporate environment proved stifling for someone accustomed to making rapid decisions and taking calculated risks.
In 1976, Harman orchestrated a management buyout that restored his control over the company that bore his name. The $100 million transaction, financed through a combination of bank loans and private equity, reflected his conviction that Harman Kardon's best days lay ahead. "I realized that I had sold my baby too early," he later admitted. "The audio industry was just beginning to explode, and I wanted to be part of that growth."
His timing proved prescient. The late 1970s and early 1980s witnessed an unprecedented boom in consumer electronics, driven by technological innovations such as compact disc players, digital signal processing, and miniaturized components. Harman positioned the company at the forefront of these developments, investing heavily in research and development while maintaining the brand's reputation for superior sound quality.
The strategy paid off handsomely. By 1986, Harman International Industries—the parent company Harman had created to house his various audio ventures—had grown to include not only Harman Kardon but also JBL, Infinity, and other premium audio brands. Annual revenues exceeded $500 million, and the company's stock price had increased more than tenfold since the buyout.
The Unexpected Statesman
Just as Harman International was reaching new heights of success, Sidney Harman made another characteristically unexpected decision. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed him Under Secretary of Commerce, a position that required him to step away from day-to-day management of his business empire. For many corporate executives, such an appointment would represent the pinnacle of public service. For Harman, it was an opportunity to apply his business philosophy to the challenges of government.
His tenure in Washington proved both enlightening and frustrating. On one hand, he gained valuable insights into the intersection of business and public policy, particularly regarding international trade and technology transfer. On the other hand, he chafed at the bureaucratic constraints and political considerations that often prevented the implementation of sensible solutions.
"Government moves at the speed of molasses," he observed after returning to private industry in 1979. "In business, if you have a good idea, you can test it in the market within months. In government, it takes years just to get a hearing."
Nevertheless, his Washington experience broadened his perspective and reinforced his belief in the importance of principled leadership. These lessons would prove invaluable during the challenges that lay ahead.
The Digital Disruption
The 1990s brought both unprecedented opportunities and existential threats to Harman International. The rise of digital audio technologies, including CD players, digital signal processors, and eventually MP3 compression, created new markets while simultaneously undermining traditional revenue streams. Younger consumers, increasingly focused on convenience rather than audio quality, gravitated toward portable devices and compressed music files that rendered high-end audio equipment seemingly obsolete.
Many industry observers predicted the demise of premium audio brands like Harman Kardon. Why would consumers pay thousands of dollars for amplifiers and speakers when they could listen to music on their computers or portable CD players? Harman's response was characteristically contrarian: rather than retreating from the high-end market, he doubled down on it.
"Every technological revolution creates both winners and losers," he explained to skeptical investors in 1995. "The winners are those who understand that new technology doesn't eliminate the need for quality—it raises the bar for what quality means."
Under his leadership, Harman International invested heavily in digital signal processing, automotive audio systems, and professional sound reinforcement. The company's engineers developed proprietary algorithms that could enhance the sound quality of compressed audio files, while its automotive division created integrated entertainment systems for luxury car manufacturers.
The strategy proved remarkably successful. By 2000, Harman International had grown to become the world's largest manufacturer of premium audio equipment, with annual revenues exceeding $3 billion and a market capitalization of over $2 billion. The company's stock had outperformed the S&P 500 by a factor of three during the previous decade.
By the Numbers
Harman International's Growth
$3 billionAnnual revenues by 2000
$2 billionMarket capitalization in 2000
3xStock outperformance vs. S&P 500 in the 1990s
The Newsweek Gambit
By 2007, Sidney Harman had achieved everything a businessman could reasonably aspire to achieve. At age 89, he was worth an estimated $400 million, controlled a global audio empire, and enjoyed the respect of his peers as one of the most successful entrepreneurs of his generation. Most men in his position would have been content to enjoy their retirement, perhaps engaging in philanthropy or writing memoirs.
Harman, however, had become increasingly concerned about the state of American journalism. The rise of the internet had devastated traditional media companies, forcing newspapers and magazines to slash budgets, lay off experienced reporters, and chase web traffic with sensationalized content. As someone who had spent his career building products that enhanced the human experience, he found the decline of serious journalism personally offensive.
"Democracy depends on an informed citizenry," he argued in a 2009 speech at the National Press Club. "When journalism fails, democracy fails. It's that simple."
His opportunity to act on these convictions came in 2010, when The Washington Post Company announced its intention to sell Newsweek magazine. Once one of America's most influential weekly publications, with a circulation exceeding 3 million at its peak, Newsweek had been hemorrhaging readers and advertisers for years. Digital competition had eroded its advertising base, while its editorial focus had become increasingly unfocused in a desperate attempt to appeal to younger readers.
Most potential buyers viewed Newsweek as a distressed asset suitable only for liquidation or radical downsizing. Harman saw something different: a prestigious brand with a distinguished editorial tradition that could be restored to relevance with the right leadership and sufficient capital investment.
On August 2, 2010, he completed the acquisition of Newsweek for one dollar, plus the assumption of approximately $70 million in debt and pension obligations. The transaction made headlines around the world, not only because of the symbolic purchase price but also because of the buyer's age and background. "Audio Pioneer Bets on Print Media" read a typical headline, capturing the apparent incongruity of the deal.
Democracy depends on an informed citizenry. When journalism fails, democracy fails. It's that simple.
— Sidney Harman
The Final Chapter
Harman's stewardship of Newsweek proved to be both his greatest challenge and his most poignant legacy. Despite his best efforts to restore the magazine's editorial credibility and financial stability, the structural forces that had undermined traditional print media proved too powerful to overcome. Circulation continued to decline, advertising revenues remained anemic, and the magazine's losses mounted.
Nevertheless, Harman refused to compromise on editorial quality or journalistic integrity. He hired experienced editors, invested in investigative reporting, and maintained the magazine's commitment to serious international coverage even as competitors retreated from expensive foreign bureaus. "I didn't buy Newsweek to make money," he told skeptical board members. "I bought it to make a difference."
His tenure as Newsweek's owner lasted less than a year. On April 12, 2011, Sidney Harman died of acute leukemia at
George Washington University Hospital, just eight months after completing the acquisition. He was 92 years old.
The timing of his death seemed almost symbolic. Within months of his passing, Newsweek announced that it would cease print publication and transition to a digital-only format—a decision that Harman had steadfastly resisted. The magazine that had once competed with Time for the title of America's most influential weekly had become another casualty of the digital revolution.
Yet Harman's final gambit, however unsuccessful in conventional business terms, revealed something essential about his character. Throughout his career, he had demonstrated an almost mystical ability to identify emerging trends and position his companies to capitalize on them. His purchase of Newsweek represented something different: a willingness to sacrifice financial returns in service of a larger purpose.
