Who is Tom Chiusano?
Tom Chiusano is known for having worked as a general manager at the FM radio station WXRK, which was the flagship of “The Howard Stern Show” from November 1985 to December 2005. An elusive figure, details such as his height, weight even birthplace remain a mystery to the general population, although we do know that he was born on 29th June 1947.
The Howard Stern Show
“The Howard Stern Show” is an American radio talk show which gained national recognition in the mid-1980s. Howard Stern, an outlandish radio and television personality, author, and comedian, was born on 12th January 1954 in New York City, USA, and has remained a public figure since his debut in 1975.
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Prominent staff members of the Stern show include Robin Quivers, Gary Dell’Abate and Fred Norris, who work respectively as the co-host, executive producer, and writer. As for Tom, he was often the target of jokes from those who worked on the Stern show, and was later in charge of preventing any inappropriate content from reaching the airwaves.
In a 2005 interview, Kyle Casey “K.C” Armstrong revealed that he’d been fired from the show by Tom for relapsing after spending time in rehab for his drug addiction. K.C had been working on the show since 1997 and was the associate producer from 1998 to 2004. After being fired, K.C moved to California, and pursued an acting career.
The Stern show has been the subject of controversy over the decades, as has Howard himself. Memorable incidents include the time the shock jock wore a revealing Spandex costume at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards, and the time he was fined $600,000 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), for making a crude and racially charged sexual joke.
Between 1990 and 2004, the owners of the radio stations broadcasting the Stern show were fined $2.5 million for indecent programming. Infinity Broadcasting, which owned WXRK, reached a settlement with the FCC in 1995 and paid $1.715 million to dismiss all outstanding indecency cases. However, later crackdowns on broadcasting indecency led to two additional fines, with
Stern consequently announcing that he’d signed a five-year contract with Sirius Satellite Radio, a medium free from FCC regulations.
Retirement
Following his shock departure from the Stern show, some netizens speculated that Tom was strong-armed into retirement, but there’s little to no information on this. However, the businessman has given sporadic interviews over the years, in which he speaks complimentarily of Howard without explaining everything that happened behind the scenes.
According to Tom, the radio show enjoyed its biggest ad revenue during the dot com era, with Howard being paid up to $30,000 for a live read.
He also spilled some gossip about Howard and the chief of CBS, Joel Hollander, claiming that they loathed each other so much that Tom had to be the middleman when they met up at a local restaurant.
It’s possible that Tom’s health issues led to him stepping down from his job, as he also revealed that he underwent an experimental type of chemo, and was supposedly the only survivor of 85 patients.
Personal Life
Thanks to the internet, fans of the Stern show have been able to dig up information regarding Tom’s personal life. His wife Penelope worked as an artist, and the couple lived in Chicago in 1977, when they welcomed their only son Timm Chiusano.
Due to the nature of Tom’s work, the family has lived in Jacksonville, FL, Manhattan, and Chicago before permanently setting down in New York City. At just 11 years old, Timm began working as a golf caddie, and gaining valuable work experience. After high school, the radio executive’s son moved to Canada to enroll in a post-graduate year at Ontario’s Trinity College School.
A hardworking and athletic young man, Timm went up against the future NHL goaltender Mike Smith for a spot in the North Frontenac Flyers and won. He was the captain of his varsity golf and hockey teams, and studied at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, while playing junior hockey.
Timm’s professional achievements are just as impressive – from 2002, he put in five years at BC Sports, and was promoted six times before landing a job at ESPN’s Customer Marketing & Sales department. His job scope included creating custom brand enhancements and content across several platforms, such as ESPN’s Next Generation Billboards.
Currently, Timm is the vice president of Spectrum Reach, and is also in charge of production and creative services. Having led teams of over 200 people, and overseen the integration of personnel and infrastructure across different companies, Timm has proven himself to be much more than Tom’s son. In 2013, he was also in charge of a company overhaul, and managed a team of 120 people while building a future company model in just six months.
Timm has been happily married to Kelly Jane Chiusano for years; the pair appear to have begun dating in 2004. The couple share a daughter, and regularly post family snaps on Instagram, on which they also showcase their love for designer clothes and travelling.
As for Penelope, her works are displayed at the Amsterdam Whitney Gallery of International Fine Art, boasting colorful and eclectic pieces such as “Former flight attendant”, “Carmine Miranda”, and “The Servers”. Penelope works almost exclusively with watercolors and mixed media, with her style being described as “whimsical and feminist”, and was also deemed a Collectors’ Choice artist by the prestigious gallery.
Despite her talents, Penelope doesn’t have much of a social media presence, and appears disinterested in fame and fortune, preferring to perfect her craft and work in silence. Fellow artists with whom she’s associated include Chengju Li and Isa D’arleans.
Net Worth
Tom’s estimated net worth is over $12 million, thanks to his years of hard work as a radio executive and general manager. Penelope herself is said to be worth about $500,000, while their son Timm’s net worth is close to $1 million, making the total fortune of the Chiusano family a healthy $13.5 million.
