On the Passing of Richard Leibner (1939-2024)

The staff of the Center for Communication is deeply saddened by the news that Richard Leibner, the legendary TV news talent agent and stalwart supporter of this organization, died April 9 after a battle with kidney cancer. He was 85 years old.

Along with his wife and business partner, Carole Cooper, Richard Leibner helped to create the modern television news business in which anchors and correspondents are celebrated—and compensated—like Hollywood stars. As longtime leaders of the venerable N.S. Bienstock (and later at United Talent Agency, which acquired Bienstock in 2014), Richard and Carole launched and advanced the careers of some of TV journalism’s biggest names, from Dan Rather, Mike Wallace, Ed Bradley, Steve Kroft, and Diane Sawyer to Anderson Cooper, Megyn Kelly, David Muir, Norah O’Donnell, Robin Roberts, Fareed Zakaria, and Brian Stelter.

In 2017, Richard and Carole’s family foundation made a generous gift to the Center for Communication for the establishment of the Carole Cooper and Richard Leibner Fellowship, a paid internship for rising female students and recent graduates. In the years since, the Center has fostered the early professional development of more than a dozen Cooper-Leibner Fellows, many of whom have gone on to blaze their own trails in media.

"Funny, insightful, and loyal, Richard was an incredible friend and advisor throughout my career, from my early reporter days at Variety throughout my time at the Center,” said J. Max Robins, Executive Director of the Center for Communication. “Always passionate about quality journalism, he loved guiding aspiring reporters and was forever generous with his wisdom, humor, and advice. When I joined the Center a decade ago, I reached out to him for his guidance in my new role, and he became an invaluable supporter of our work. Richard Leibner was truly one of a kind."   

Richard and Carole’s generosity has been critical to the Center’s mission of promoting a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable media industry. We are tremendously grateful to them and honored to have helped celebrate Richard’s legacy by nurturing the talent and ambition of tomorrow’s media leaders.