This interview with Bob Pittman, chairman and chief executive of Clear Channel Communications, was conducted and condensed byAdam Bryant.
Q. Were you in leadership roles when you were younger?
A. I started as a radio disc jockey at age 15. I needed a job to pay for flying lessons. That was my passion. I tried to get a job at the men’s clothing store in my small town in Mississippi, because that’s where all the cool people worked and hung out. I was too young. I tried to get a high-paying job bagging groceries for the Piggly Wiggly grocery. There were none. Then I went to the radio station. Bill Jones, who owned it, said: “Do you have good grades? Do you stay out of trouble?” I said, “Yeah.” He said, “Go read this copy.” He listened to me and said, “O.K., you’re hired.” I got completely hooked on radio, and my first management job was in Pittsburgh when I was 19. I got to program a radio station there.
How many people were you managing?
