Arthur L. Carter

Arthur Lloyd Carter (December 24, 1931 – December 7, 2025) was an American investment banker, publisher and visual artist. He began his career in finance before moving into publishing, and was known for founding The New York Observer in 1987. His grandparents immigrated to the United States from Hungary. with a degree in French literature. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard as an officer from 1953 to 1956.

Career Carter worked for Lehman Brothers for a period of time, but after taking a break to study at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business, he started Carter, Berlind, & Weill in 1960, which eventually grew into Shearson Loeb Rhoades, later merging with Lehman to form Shearson Lehman Brothers. Eventually, deciding that he wanted to run a newspaper, he started the Litchfield County Times, when no existing paper met his criteria. In 1995, he sold The Nation, in 2001, he sold the Litchfield County Times, and he sold The Observer in 2006.

In 2008, New York University renamed its journalism department the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. Carter had previously taught at NYU as an adjunct professor of philosophy and journalism.

Personal life and death Carter had three children: Jon, Whendy, and Ellen from his first marriage to Linda Schweitzer, which lasted from 1957 until their divorce in 1965. In 1980, he married Dr. Linda Kessler. His stepdaughter is actress Ali Marsh, whose husband is actor Fred Weller. He had 12 grandchildren.

He was also a visual artist: his paintings and sculptures have been exhibited in Tennessee, Rhode Island,

Carter died at a hospital in Manhattan on December 7, 2025, at the age of 93.