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A shelved profile from 2001, supported by months of reporting, tells the story of David Pecker, CEO of American Media Inc., the National Enquirer's parent company trib.al/ZDRCuV8
The David Pecker of today is the center of a half-dozen national conversations from Jeff Bezos to the Saudis. And, of course, Donald Trump trib.al/9rVzmbG
His persona in the early days of building a media empire was one of a man who some say governed with fear and would do anything to make quarterly projections trib.al/9rVzmbG
Character traits staffers tacked onto Pecker include workaholic, paranoid, vain, dishonest, bully. Ego is always mentioned trib.al/9rVzmbG
After years of leading Hachette Filipacchi Magazines, he later succeeded in purchasing the 6 major tabloids for AMI with the help of $105 million in venture cap from Evercore Partners trib.al/9rVzmbG
Pecker, a 30-year-plus NRA member, was rumored and feared to have carried a gun to the office. "You have to be careful with this guy," says one AMI employee. "He’s got a hair-trigger temper" trib.al/9rVzmbG
For the record, Pecker said he would never carry his gun to work and only kept his license renewed to avoid it lapsing trib.al/9rVzmbG
“He likes to have people walking around in fear,” says one former AMI secretary. “He gets off on it" trib.al/9rVzmbG
When David Pecker fired people, he refused to hire replacements. “I had an assistant manager who made $70K a year delivering mail because David got rid of all the people below him,” recalls one former AMI staffer trib.al/9rVzmbG
A current AMI employee called National Enquirer owner David Pecker a “loose cannon”: “If this guy gets hit by a truck, people will bring out the party hats” trib.al/9rVzmbG
The thing that rips David Pecker up inside? The hypocrisy of the “legit press,” which means tabloids must strive even harder for journalistic excellence—and scoops trib.al/9rVzmbG
Jon Hammond, Pecker's spokesman, says his boss "has worked tirelessly to navigate some of the best, and worst, times for the media industry" trib.al/9rVzmbG
