William R. Hearst III Appointed to Chairman of Hearst Corporation

Hearst Corporation announced today that William R. Hearst III - a director of the Corporation and trustee of the Hearst Family Trust established under the terms of the will of William Randolph Hearst - has been elected chairman of the Corporation.

Three executives and two members of the Hearst family were also elected to the Corporation's Board of Directors: Mark E. Aldam, 49, president of Hearst Newspapers; Eve Burton, 54, senior vice president and general counsel, Hearst Corporation; Mitchell I. Scherzer, 50, senior vice president and chief financial officer, Hearst Corporation; Samia B. Staehle, 43, an attorney and great-granddaughter of William Randolph Hearst; and Christian A. Tarafa, 43, former longtime executive at Hearst Magazines UK and great-grandson of William Randolph Hearst.

The announcements were made by Frank A. Bennack, Jr., executive vice chairman and CEO of Hearst Corporation.

William R. Hearst III succeeds the late George R. Hearst, Jr., as chairman. He is George's cousin and a grandson of the company's founder, William Randolph Hearst.

"Will has been involved in the activities of Hearst Corporation for decades," Bennack said. "He is a respected media leader, having honed his skills as a newspaper publisher, magazine editor and cable executive. His support and vision as chairman will be invaluable to Hearst moving forward."

"Hearst Corporation has been steered to consistent success by a capable management team, led by our CEO Frank Bennack," Hearst said. "We have also benefited from many gifted editors, writers, photographers and producers around the world. My grandfather believed recruiting and retaining great talent was the major determinant of competitive advantage. An important goal will be to continue that tradition."

Hearst, 63, has been a director of Hearst Corporation for more than 30 years and has been actively engaged in the charitable activities and programs of the Hearst Foundations for the last 20 years. Hearst is also a partner emeritus at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

Prior to joining KPCB in 1995, he served for 10 years as editor and publisher of the San Francisco Examiner, then owned by Hearst Corporation. Hearst began his career with the Examiner in 1972 as a reporter and assistant city editor. He moved on to Outside magazine, but subsequently rejoined Hearst, first at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner and later as vice president of Hearst Cable Communications.

Aldam was named president of Hearst Newspapers in March 2011. Before that he had been executive vice president, deputy group head of Hearst Newspapers since March 2010. Aldam joined Hearst in 2006, as publisher of the Albany Times Union, and prior to that, was senior vice president/chief operating officer of The Hartford Courant since 2005, first joining the Tribune paper in 1994.

Burton joined Hearst as vice president and general counsel in November 2002. Before that, she was vice president and chief legal counsel at CNN from 2000 to 2001, and vice president and deputy legal counsel at the New York Daily News from 1998 to 2000, first joining the Daily News in 1995.

Scherzer was named vice president and chief financial officer of Hearst in November 2009. Prior to Hearst, he headed the media practice at The Silverfern Group from 2008 to 2009, and was a managing director at JP Morgan and head of its U.S. Media Investment Banking division since 2002. Scherzer began his career at Goldman Sachs in 1989, ultimately serving as co-head of its media group.

Staehle, a 2004 graduate of Seattle University School of Law, is a licensed attorney and an active member of the Washington Bar. Previously, she was a producer for the Associated Press's television division, based in London and Paris, and freelance news producer in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles.

From 1990 to 2012, Tarafa held a number of executive positions at Hearst Magazines UK. He was appointed publisher of House Beautiful and Coast magazines in 2011, after working at House Beautiful and a number of other areas of Hearst's U.K. business, including circulation, publicity, sales and marketing.