Beutner was born in New York and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the son of German immigrants who came to the United States in the 1920s for economic opportunity. His mother was a schoolteacher and his father was a manufacturing engineer.[4] His mother was Jewish and his father was Roman Catholic, although he did not find out that his father's family was Christian until he was an adult.[4][5] He is a graduate of East Grand Rapids High School, and graduated from Dartmouth College with a Bachelor of Arts in economics.[6]
Beutner is married to Virginia Woltz Beutner. They have 4 children.
Philanthropy
In 1994 Austin Beutner founded The Beutner Family Foundation with a focus on philanthropy and education for economically disadvantaged people.[12]
In 2012 Beutner founded Vision to Learn,[13] a; non-profit that provides children with free eye exams and free glasses by bringing its mobile eye clinics to schools and to other neighborhood youth and community organizations.[14] Since 2012 Vision To Learn has helped more than 100,000[15] school kids with free eye exams and glasses. In 2019 U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) led a bipartisan coalition of Senators in recognizing national nonprofit Vision To Learn.[16] In 2023 Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra joined Beutner and emphasized the critical role of vision health in academic success and how programs like Vision To Learn can help address widespread disparities in access to care.[17]
On November 8, 2022, California voters approved Proposition 28: The Arts and Music in Schools Funding Guarantee and Accountability Act. The measure requires the state to establish a new, ongoing program supporting arts instruction in schools beginning in 2023–24.[19] Beutner authored the bill and spent nearly $4.2 million of his own money to support the bill.[20] Hollywood entertainers and "A" list actors supported Prop 28.[21] Californians overwhelmingly passed Proposition 28, which will bring a windfall of arts education funding to California schools.[22]
Career
Finance
After graduating in 1982 he went to work at Smith Barney as a financial analyst. At the age of 29, he became partner at The Blackstone Group.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, Beutner went to work for the U.S. State Department. The Clinton administration tapped him to lead a team into Russia and help transition them from communism to a free-market economy, including the decommission of weapons and other material.[26][27]
In January 2010, Beutner was appointed by Antonio Villaraigosa to be the first deputy mayor of Los Angeles, with oversight of twelve city agencies, including the Port of Los Angeles, Department of Water and Power and the Housing Authority, with over 17,000 employees.[28] As deputy mayor he focused on making the city more business-friendly and streamlining permitting processes.[29] In 2013, with Villaraigosa's term ending, Beutner launched a campaign to run for Mayor of Los Angeles, but dropped from the race after a year having captured only 2% of likely voters.[30] The election was a year away when Beutner suspended his efforts.
In 2013, Beutner and former U.S. Secretary of CommerceMickey Kantor co-chaired the 2020 Commission[31] to study and report[32] on the financial matters in Los Angeles. One of the report's recommendations was to reform the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP). In 2016 Beutner and Kantor penned an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times aimed at bringing about reform and changes to the DWP, noting that "The city deserves a public utility that is operated in the long-term best interests of its customers, employees and our environment."[33] In July 2017, Buetner created a task force for the Los Angeles Unified School District to look for solutions for declining attendance and other problems. Beutner co-chairs the task force with SEIU President Laphonza Butler. "We are here to support Michelle King, and offer suggestions," Beutner said in an interview with LA School Report.[34][35]
On May 1, 2018, the Board appointed Austin Beutner and was met with criticism by United Teachers Los Angeles, who said that Beutner did not have any experience managing a school or a school district.[36][37] In 2019, UTLA authorized a strike against LAUSD that lasted six days.[38] About 30,000 teachers strike and only a third of about 500,000 students showed up to school, with the District losing $15 million on the first day.[39][40] The strike ended after a deal between LAUSD and UTLA was reached.[41] In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had forced the schools to shut down.[42] Beutner developed an online platform and distributed laptops and internet service to keep students engaged in remote learning[43] He pushed for the schools to become vaccination sites and for the district to do testing on students and faculty.[44][45][46] Beutner also led one of the largest food distribution programs during covid.[47] Beutner introduced Primary Promise which provides K-3 students with the individual attention they need to learn to read and help students build a foundation in math.[48] In 2021, Beutner announced that he would step down on June 30.[49][50]
In 2014, Beutner took over as publisher and CEO of the Los Angeles Times when Eddy Hartenstein left to become the non-executive chairman of the board of Tribune Publishing.[52] When Tribune Publishing acquired the San Diego Union-Tribune in 2015, Beutner was named its CEO and publisher, as well as CEO of the newly formed California News Group.[53]
He was fired as publisher and chief executive officer of the Los Angeles Times on September 8, 2015. He wrote on Facebook that the dismissal was not voluntary: "I am not departing by choice, nor is this some 'mutual agreement' on my part and Tribune Publishing".[54] Beutner's firing was protested by a number of prominent community leaders.[55][56] Media analyst Ken Doctor called Beutner's departure "a small tragedy for American journalism."[57][58]
During Beutner's 13 months as publisher, the Times won two Pulitzer Prizes — for cultural criticism and for feature writing — along with other national journalism awards for coverage of the California drought, the plight of Mexican farm workers and other stories. The California Newspaper Publishers Association awarded the Times its 2015 general excellence award.[59]
In 2016, Beutner was invited to speak about the role of the media in homeland security and his experiences in the media and public service at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate SchoolCenter for Homeland Defense and Security.[60] His keynote address[61] was published in Watermark, the quarterly magazine of the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School – Center for Homeland Defense and Security.
In September 2017, Beutner was the keynote speaker of the Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Officers Association[62] and United Firefighters of Los Angeles City[63] first Leadership Symposium.[64]
In 2018, the Los Angeles Downtown News[65] journal recognized Beutner "as a visionary with extensive political and business connections."
