San Antonio businessman and philanthropist B.J. “Red” McCombs died Sunday at the age of 95. Among his many business accomplishments, McCombs co-founded Clear Channel Communications with Lowry Mays. Mays died last September at the age of 87.
McCombs was the founder of the Red McCombs Automotive Group and a former owner of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets and the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings.
McCombs rose from working as a car salesman at a Ford dealership in Corpus Christi in 1950 to become a billionaire who owned more than 400 businesses. He was listed among the richest men in the world by Forbes back in 2022 with a net worth of $1.7 billion.
Mays and McCombs launched Clear Channel with the purchase of KEEZ and WOAI in San Antonio in 1975. WOAI was dubbed a “clear channel” station because of its 50,000 watt signal which could be heard for thousands of miles on a clear night.
After the Telecommunications Act of 1994 Clear Channel would go on to own over 1,200 radio stations through consolidation. The company is known as iHeartMedia today and has been run by Bob Pittman for over a decade.
McCombs grew from a car salesman at a Ford dealership in Corpus Christi in 1950 to a billionaire with over 400 firms.
His memoir, BIG RED, is a really good read. His insider insights into the car business alone are valuable to anyone who calls on car dealers. RIP, Red.