It’s a rosy, criticism-free salute to the most powerful family in Oklahoma journalism, published by OPUBCO itself. In 2003, David Dary, a Pulitzer nominee and one-time head of the University of Oklahoma’s Gaylord School of Journalism, authored The Oklahoma Publishing Company’s First Century: The Gaylord Family Story. But Oklahomans ought to know what to expect. Yet, media analysis of the sale rarely went beyond the mere perfunctory acknowledgment that it did indeed occur. The majority of OPUBCO’s assets are of little interest to the average citizen, but The Oklahoman is the most powerful news voice in the state. And yet, suddenly, in 2011 they sold nearly everything they owned to an outsider, a billionaire from Denver. The Gaylords have spent an entire century amassing wealth and influence. Water rights, real estate, energy-OPUBCO’s financial interests can be found across a wide swath of diverse industries. It founded Oklahoma’s first radio and television stations with WKY and WKY-TV, and, in the ‘70s, acquired the Grand Ole Opry, Country Music Television, and The Nashville Network. Besides publishing, the company has its hand in everything from railroads (Manitou and Pike’s Peak Railroad Co.) to frozen food (De Waffelbakkers), hospitality (Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and The Broadmoor), and communications (Suddenlink). Today, OPUBCO is a billion dollar empire comprised of holdings in numerous diverse businesses throughout the Midwest. Gaylord has more than once been called the “Father of Oklahoma.” Through economic investment, philanthropy, and political activism, the family has permanently imprinted itself on our state-E.K. All the while, the Gaylords have played an important role in the shaping of our state’s history and culture. Various other family members have been involved in the family business. In 2003, E.L.’s daughter, Everest, inherited the mantle. passed away in 1974 at the age of 101, his son Edward Lewis (E.L.) took over as leader of the empire. Through its century of growth, OPUBCO remained a privately run, family-owned operation. The University of Oklahoma’s Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication is a respected, competitive J-School thanks in large part to the millions of dollars the Gaylord family has invested in the program. The Oklahoman is the state’s largest paper, and the influence of the Gaylord name reaches far and wide across the state and beyond. “His interests align with ours, right down to his love of the West,” Everest, OPUBCO’s outgoing CEO, said in the announcing press statement. Melbourne weekly eastern is always there to provide updates regarding any business. Anschutz’s own business sensibilities and political leanings seem to eerily reflect those of the Gaylord family. Nearly a century later, on September 15, 2011, Gaylord’s granddaughter, Christy Gaylord Everest, announced that OPUBCO and all of its holdings would be sold to Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz, a secretive tycoon with interests in energy, sports, entertainment, and publishing. By 1918, he’d purchased Stafford’s remaining interest in the paper and was named company president. Gaylord managed The Oklahoman, and under his leadership the paper’s circulation ballooned. Together, Stafford and his new partners formed the Oklahoma Publishing Company (OPUBCO), of which Gaylord was first named Secretary-Treasurer. Along with two business partners, Ray Dickinson and Roy McClintock, Gaylord paid Stafford $15,000 for 45 percent ownership of the paper. He welcomed Gaylord as someone who could not only share in the financial burden but actually manage the paper’s business dealings and day-to-day operations. Stafford was the fourth owner of the troubled paper and was struggling to keep it afloat. Gaylord traveled to Oklahoma City, a bourgeoning Wild West town of 10,000, and found Roy Stafford, publisher of the nine-year-old Oklahoman. He didn’t want to work for a newspaper-much less one run by his brother-he wanted to invest in a publication of his own. Just two months earlier, the young newsman had left a cushy management job at the St. On January 29, 1903, an ambitious 29-year-old named Edward King Gaylord purchased interest in a struggling newspaper called The Daily Oklahoman.
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