Chairman, The Rust Group, 2004 Cable Hall of Fame
I was working for my father in a hardware-appliance store and it was very difficult to sell television sets in those days in Del Rio, Texas because we had no television.
Jack R. Crosby has been an active venture capitalist and entrepreneur for over thirty years. He is the founder and Chairman of The Rust Group, a private investment partnership headquartered in Austin, Texas. Current and prior areas of The Rust Group’s investment activity include cable television, satellite communications, media, entertainment, banking, real estate development and oil field services.
Mr. Crosby has been involved in the cable industry since its infancy. In 1954 he organized one of the first private entities to receive a license from the Federal Communications Commission to transmit television signals via microwave. During his career, Mr. Crosby has been one of the founders of eight major multiple system cable companies. Included among them are:
GenCoe, Inc:
The nucleus of what was to become United Cable TV, Inc.
Telesystems International, Inc.:
Switzerland’s second largest cable company, and the first financially successful privately owned multiple system operator (MSO) in Europe.
Communications Properties, Inc.:
Sold to Times Mirror, Inc., in 1978.
Mr. Crosby is a former Director and Chairman of the National Cable Television Association, and was honored by his peers by designation as one of the Pioneers of the Cable Television Industry. He has lent his services to the governments of West Germany, Austria, and Holland as consultant regarding the development of cable television within their countries.
