Dick Asher Dies: Former PolyGram, Columbia Records President Was 92

Dick Asher, a former president of PolyGram and Columbia Records who worked with artists Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, and Bob Dylan, among others, died on July 23 at home in Boca Raton, Florida at 92. No cause was given.

Asher, a native of New York City, was born in 1932 and served in the Marine Corps before graduating from Tufts University and Cornell Law School. He joined CBS Records in the mid-1960s as VP of business affairs.

Asher briefly went on to Capitol Records, then returned to CBS in 1971 to work with Clive Davis at Columbia Records.

In the late 1970s, Asher was named deputy president of the label.

Asher left the company in 1983. He moved on to senior roles at Warner Communications, and in October 1985, became president/CEO of PolyGram Records. Asher left the company in 1990 after a contractual dispute.

After leaving PolyGram, he consulted for several artists and companies before becoming an original director for Electronic Arts software, a post he retained for the next 24 years.

He relocated to Florida in the 1990s and later was an affiliate professor of commercial music at Florida Atlantic University, where he helped launch the school’s recording studio, among other efforts.

Survivors include his wife, Sheila, and son, Jeffrey, four grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.