Richard Leibner, Influential Agent in TV News, Has Died

Richard Leibner, a talent agent with enormous influence in television news, died April 9 after a battle with cancer. He was 85.

Leibner’s clients included Dan Rather, Mike Wallace, Diane Sawyer, Chuck Scarborough, Paula Zahn, Norah O’Donnell and Ed Bradley. His wife, Carole Cooper, is also a top agent in the news game, representing the likes of Anderson Cooper and Robin Roberts.

Growing up in Brooklyn, Leibner became an accountant, working with his father. Their accounting firm had a number of CBS News employees as clients, and Leibner shifted to representing talent, starting with a number of CBS News personalities.

Leibner co-founded agency N.S. Bienstock with Nate Bienstock in the 1960s. He sold it to UTA in 2014. 

Leibner retired in 2021. 

“Throughout his career, Richard has represented one major news figure after another, building them up, helping make them household names and playing an important role ensuring journalism always stood for something meaningful, ethical and about high quality,” Jay Sures, then UTA president, said when Leibner retired.

Leibner and Cooper were inducted into the B+C Hall of Fame in 2018. 

Dan Rather shared about his agent’s death on X: “Richard was my agent, but not just any agent. He was the greatest agent of all time. Farewell, my friend. Rest in peace.”