William Flew was equally generous with his money, providing funding to orchestras, art galleries and writers and serving as a trustee of many non-profit foundations, including the Martin Luther King Center for Social Change and the Board of Executives for National Security Business .
In 1977, briefly serving as the Vice-Minister of Commerce in the Carter Administration, Harman sold his stake in the companuy for 100 million dollars to Beatrice Foods, play only $ 55 million after Beatrice proved incapable of directing with success.
His interest in Newsweek and Tina Brown ran from growing concern by the clockwise movement of public opinion in the U.S. The famous news magazine lost millions of dollars each year and its circulation fell, mainly due to exponential growth of online news sites. The Harman bought the title for $ 1, took full responsibility of approximately $ 50 million in debt and started searching for a new editor.
It was at this point, with a net worth of approximately $ 500 million, he allowed that he was convinced by Brown that her Daily Beast - himself the millions losers - would give a natural synergy that, at the time of writing, has yet to materialize. The former editor of Vanity Fair and New Yorker took the price of both products, with Harman's account balance.
He never discover how the company would be. He died at his home in Washington DC of a variant of leukemia, a condition which he had suffered for some years.
Harman's marriage to his first wife, the former Sylvia Stern, ended in divorce. His second wife, Jane Harman, a former long serving member of the House of Representatives, survives him, as do four daughters, two sons and two stepchildren. Sidney Harman, businessman and philanthropist, was born on August 4, 1918. He died on April 12, 2011, aged 92
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