Sullivan's Travels

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So Tom Sullivan, president of The Sullivan Group Inc. and the avuncular voice of business in the region, is leaving for New York and the Fox Business Network. No longer confined to the Sacramento region, now he’ll have a nationally syndicated show — don’t worry, you’ll still be able to hear him on the same station, local Fox Radio affiliate KFBK — and he will be one of the commentators on Rupert Murdoch’s new business network.

Is this a cause for celebration as another local breaks into the big time, another demonstration of Sacramento’s reputation as America’s test marketing leader, or just one more item to fuel our inferiority complex?

As he flies across the country in the new Citation jet he’s considering buying, he’s moving into a whole new career. The media business was never his primary occupation here. It was a great way to build visibility for his real passion: making money.

For instance, earlier this year, when CBS bought local high school sports internet startup, MaxPreps (a former Prosper Baby Blue Chip, go to prospermag.com for that story), Sullivan was one of the beneficiaries. The radio host had been one of the early-stage investors in the company. Savvy move? Insider opportunism? Potential conflict of interest for a media personality?

This is a treacherous area, and probably explains the time lapse between July, when we first interviewed him for this story (and he revealed he was negotiating for a new business media opportunity but swore us to secrecy), and his on-air departure announcement in late September.

That was when we found out that he had talked to every other news outlet in town, too, and all of them had agreed not to break the story until he gave the go-ahead — so much for journalistic scoops.

Media companies are notoriously cautious about conflicts of interest, and we can only imagine how convoluted the former stockbroker-turned-investment adviser’s negotiations with Fox might have been.

It’s hard to reconcile the 21st century Tom Sullivan with the affable accountant who arrived here in 1977, fell into doing business reports for KFBK in 1980 and befriended another burly guy who was hosting another local radio show — Rush Limbaugh. Catapulted to sudden fame by the Reagan revolution, that right-wing commentator bolted for New York, leaving Sullivan to step into his shoes. It was a good deal; Sacramento got a local booster, a gentler Republican and a personable business personality.

Now he’s following the path that his buddy forged. While we wish him well, maybe this is a good thing for everybody. Rush and Tom seem part of another era. While nostalgia has its place, there’s little time for that in the business world we inhabit. It also makes us wonder what the new voice of Sacramento’s business community should sound like. Spanish? Mandarin? Vietnamese? Perhaps a woman?

Or maybe it’s not a radio show at all. Podcast, anyone?

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