Sydney Yallen, Founder, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of InterMedia, has passed away at the age of 85. Yallen has been in charge of the 32-year-old Inter/Media Group of Companies, since the beginning, and continued to provide day-to-day leadership to the end. Syd Yallen founded the company in 1974, after a career in advertising/media that began at the age of 13 as a part-time office boy for a Los Angeles radio station.
In 1958, Yallen moved on to become executive vice-president of Continental International Productions, a leading syndicator of radio and television programs. Nine years later, he joined broadcast barter company Pepper and Tanner to assume the position of West Coast regional manager. In 1970, Syd established the West Coast operations for the media buying service Media Partners, headquartered in New York. When that partnership dissolved, Yallen formed Inter/Media.
Yallen is survived by his wife Penny; son Robert, daughter-in-law Linda and grandchildren, Lindsay and Jordan. Contributions in Yallen’s name can be made to the Inter/Media Charitable Foundation ro the American Stroke Association.