For years, investors had approached Allbritton to gauge his interest in selling part or all of Politico. Eventually, he reached Zane Zander, who owned a paper in the small town of Brillion. New systems, more branches, better hours. They were incredibly generous people, he says. Robert says he learned the most from buying two stations around Birmingham, Alabama, in 1996 and combining them into the strongest in the area. Allbritton can look down on helicopters banking past the Kennedy Center. At one point, VandeHei and Allen traveled to Breitbarts home in California, where they watched him run the site from his basement. I thought it would be cool, says Harris. What Those Glowing Obits Didn't Tell You About Joe Allbritton Aboard his Citation Sovereign airplane were Allbritton Communications president Fred Ryan, chief financial officer Stephen Gibson, general counsel Jerald Fritz, and marketing chief James Killen. We had no clue where it was heading.. In some ways, he says, I couldnt have been happier. Robert Allbritton is a None. On Wednesday, November 15, the week before Thanksgiving, they arranged a meeting in Grahams office. Harris and his wife, Ann OHanlon, read the notes and reconsidered. Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Allbritton surname lived. I had plans to bring the bank around, Robert Allbritton says. Organizations they donated to including the Baylor College of Medicine, the Allbritton Art Institute, the Oxford Scholars, and the establishment of the International School of Law, which has become the George Mason University School of Law. Sure enough, there he was: The lanky kid who once covered high-school sports for a tiny paper in an anonymous Midwestern city was now the star political reporter at the most glamorous newspaper in America. It was a bit like a state visit, Harris recalls. a blog by Jack Limpert, Editor of The Washingtonian for more than 40 years. The Times Company was beginning to feel pressure from prints loss of advertising revenue to digital media, so it wanted to cash out of television. Dr. Gary Peck was the director of the Melanoma Center there. True, our first two guys came from the Post, but most came from all over the place.. I was getting bored with reporting, Harris says. Robert thought Jim was interested in the shiny new object, says a Politico executive, but he wasnt interested in actually running it.. VandeHei began playing poker with GOP staffers and breaking stories of national consequence: House Republicans were using a secret fund to explore the possible impeachment of President Clinton; Congressman Bob Livingston was ending his campaign for speaker of the House because of an extramarital affair. Politico also bought a news website that gave it a beachhead in New York. He visited stations, sold ads, studied the technology, worked on programming. Says Fred Ryan: It was going to be a more modest endeavor than Politico turned out to be. It bought two stations and started one from scratch. This friendship served Politico well. By using this form you agree with the storage and handling of your data by this website. It was 1996. Allbritton describes these mistakes as whoopsies and says they werent out of the ordinary for a first-year executive. A former member of Politicos leadership insists that the mistakes originated from incorrect information provided by Allbritton Communications financial managers. Less than a year later, VandeHei was working in Washington. Compared with his companys eight TV stations, Politico is a relatively small part of Allbrittons costs and revenues. He believed Politico was far more valuable than Business Insider and, according to a person familiar with the discussions, he proceeded to try and bully Allbritton into selling. If that works for you, we can do it.. It also hurt when VandeHei delivered to Allbritton a budget proposal that contained several errors. When Axel Springer bought 88 percent of Business Insider for $343 million last September, VandeHei became even more convinced that Politico could get a monster payday. Zero, he says. He asked to meet with Harris. Everyone should be proud of a great run. Father: Lewis A. Allbritton Mother: Ada Carpenter Wife: Barbara Jean Balfanz (m. 23-Feb-1967, one son) Son: Robert Lewis Allbritton (b. I know he has a commitment to a high level of quality.. But their alliance transformed Washingtons media landscape, reshaping the way news organizations cover politicians, creating a new cast of local celebrities, and, in the process, becoming a digital bible for political insiders. Until then, VandeHei hadnt shown much ambition. I absolutely admire what hes been able to do with himself and his life. Dr. Allbritton lives in Georgetown with her husband Robert, publisher of Politico, and three children. Chevy Chase, MD20815 The group created a live-events business and, in 2010, launched Politico Pro, which delivered detailed policy coverage on energy, technology, and other sectors. Robert Allbritton (born February 16, 1969[1]) is the owner and founder of Capitol News Company, the parent company of Capitol Hill political newspaper and website Politico. How NPRs Latino Newsroom Plans to Provide Bilingual Coverage of the State of the Union, Marjorie Taylor Green vs. Dr. Dre Joins the Long History of Politicians Beefing With Musicians, Registration for the Bay Bridge Run Opens at Noon Today, Inside Jackie Kennedys Intriguing Pre-JFK Life, You Might Spot These Celebs Around DC This Weekend, A Black Bear Has Been Rummaging Through Trash Cans in Kensington, Everything You Missed at Last Nights White House State Dinner, How the M3 Rock Fest Saved 80s Hair Metal, Folger Shakespeare Library Will Reopen in November, Meet the 2023 Washington Women in Journalism Award Winners, A Ginormous Bounce House Is Coming to the DC Area This Spring, NEW: A Lottery System for National Gallery Night Tickets, The 100 Very Best Restaurants in Washington. My melanoma was treated at the Washington Hospital Center. I sure am.. Robert Allbritton is chairmanand pilot. Scooping the competition was only half the game. I wouldnt do this thing, he told his parents. Meanwhile, throughout the summer and fall of 2015, VandeHei and Allbrittons relationship unraveled. He had spent his teen years there, holed up in his room with friends working on computer programs, playing tennis, and swimming in the back yard. Photo-illustration by Miles Donovan. I do this because Dr. Peck is expert in diagnosing melanomas and takes his time examining me and answering all the questions that I and my wife have. Robert and Elena pledged $5 million to create a Center for the Study of Public Life at Wesleyan. Allbritton received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Wesleyan University in 1992, [8] and has served as a member of its board of trustees. VandeHei says it was the holy s moment. Inside Politico's Billion-Dollar Drama - The New York Times Its wrong what they do to people, says Grim, 31. The sources of tension included all the pitfalls that have driven apart other successful collaborations: power, ambition, ego, glory. The dispute made life in Politicos executive ranks uncomfortable during December and January. At the same time Robert Allbritton was guiding Riggs through the money-laundering investigation and sale, he was courting his wife-to-beand recovering from a broken neck.