Sarnoff, David (1891–1971), president and chairman of the Radio Corporation of America.Born in Minsk, Russia, Sarnoff immigrated to the United States in 1900. He became an office boy in Gugilelmo Marconi's wireless
telegraph company in New York in 1906, rising to management roles by
World War I. On the formation of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in 1909, Sarnoff became RCA's commercial manager, then president (1930) and chairman of the board (1947). He retired from his executive positions in 1969. Unlike his chief competitor, William S.
Paley of CBS, Sarnoff directed research and manufacturing of
radio broadcasting equipment and receivers. Beginning in 1926, he also directed the National Broadcasting Company's radio and later
television services. Referred to as General Sarnoff after his brief European service in
World War II, he cultivated legends to enhance his own background. (He did not operate the world's key wireless link to rescue efforts when the
Titanic sank in 1912, nor did he write a famously prescient “radio music box” memo when still in his twenties.) His real accomplishments included helping to establish network radio broadcasting in the 1920s, leading RCA's development of black‐and‐white television in the late 1930s, and likewise pushing compatible color television in the 1940s and 1950s. While never educated beyond grade school, Sarnoff could see the commercial possibilities of technical innovations, and he actively supported RCA's substantial research and development program. He was an industrial autocrat who passed RCA leadership on (though for only a few years) to his oldest son, Robert. Purchased by General Electric in 1985, RCA lasted barely fifteen years after its long‐time leader's death.
Bibliography
David Sarnoff , Looking Ahead: The Papers of David Sarnoff, 1968.
Kenneth Bilby , The General: David Sarnoff and the Rise of the Communications Industry, 1986.
Christopher H. Sterling
