By Kevin McCauley
Patrick Talamantes, vice chairman/CFO at McClatchy Cos. is succeeding Gary Pruitt, CEO, when he departs in May to helm the Associated Press.
Talamantes, Pruitt |
The 47-year-old will assume Pruitt’s president/CEO title, while Kevin McClatchy, a fifth-generation member of the founding family and board member since 1998, takes over Pruitt’s chairman role.
Pruitt, 54, led McClatchy for 16 years and was responsible for its 2006 acquisition of Knight-Ridder for $6.5B.
Talamantes, who becomes the seventh CEO of the 155-year-old company, joined the Sacramento-based publisher in 2001 as VP-finance/CFO. He also managed the company’s real estate holdings and information technology.
Last year, Talamantes took over oversight for McClatchy’s Florida operations, which include the Miami Herald, Spanish-language El Nuevo Herald and Bradenton Herald newspapers.
Prior to McClatchy, Talamantes worked for Sinclair Broadcast Group from 1996 to 2001. He also was treasurer of River City Broadcasting in St. Louis and a banker at Chemical Bank of New York.
The new chairman is former managing general partner and CEO of the Pittsburgh Pirates and a member of Major League Baseball’s executive council.
He worked for a decade in sales at McClatchy’s newspaper network, Sacramento Bee and Miami Herald.
At the AP, Pruitt joins in July to take over for the retiring Tom Curley, who is leaving after a nine-year stint. He has been a member of AP’s board for nine years, once handling vice chairman duties.
His focus will be to continue AP’s transition to a digital news company. He becomes the 13th head of the cooperative since its founding in 1846.
Pruitt, a First Amendment lawyer, joined McClatchy in 1984 as general counsel. He progressed to the assistant to the president post at the Sacramento Bee, vice chairman for operations & technology, president/COO before becoming CEO.
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