Lowry Mays

Lester Lowry Mays (July 24, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American businessman. He was the founder and chairman of Clear Channel Communications, now known as iHeartCommunications, Inc..

Early life Mays was born in Houston on July 24, 1935. His father, Lester T. Mays, was an executive in the steel industry and died in a car accident when Mays was twelve; his mother, Mary Virginia Lowry, became a real estate agent after her husband's death. Mays was raised in University Park in suburban Dallas, where he attended Highland Park High School.

Career

After graduating in 1957, Mays joined the Air Force, where he served as an officer. He spent the following ten years as an investment banker and eventual vice president at Russ & Company.

In 2003, Mays testified before the US Senate that the deregulation of the telecommunications industry had not hurt the public. However, in an interview that same year with Fortune magazine, he remarked, "We're not in the business of providing news and information. We're not in the business of providing well-researched music. We're simply in the business of selling our customers' products."

Mays was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2004. After suffering a stroke the following year, Mays relinquished his position as a CEO of the company to his son, Mark Mays.

In 2008, Mays and McCombs sold Clear Channel Communications for $25 billion, and the company was renamed iHeartCommunications, Inc.

Mays served as a chairman of the United Way of San Antonio and was a member of the Associates Board at Harvard Business School.

Involvement with Texas A&M University Mays served on the Texas A&M Board of Regents from 1985 to 1991. He was reappointed to the Board of Regents in 2001 and served as chairman of the Board of Regents from 2003 to 2005. He was also a chair of the Presidential Library Committee and a member of the Committee on Buildings and Physical Plant and was the Board's special liaison to the Texas A&M Foundation. His final term on the Board of Regents expired on February 1, 2007.

Over the course of his life, Mays donated $40 million to Texas A&M, $15 million of which was directed towards the business department.

Mays died in San Antonio on September 12, 2022, at age 87.

Awards and honors 1997 San Antonio Business Hall of Fame 1998 Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement 1999 Texas Business Hall of Fame 2004 Radio Hall of Fame 2010 Sterling C. Evans Medal