A trained accountant, Mr. Leibner was described in a 1989 profile by Ben Yagoda in The New York Times Magazine as an eccentric character with “remarkable emotional range.” “He can be sad, seductive, humorous, short, rude, sentimental, cheerful, polite, unpretentious, analytical or broad: The one constant is the strain of his native Brooklyn in his voice,” wrote Mr. Yagoda.
He is also known for telling incredibly dirty jokes.
Andrew Heyward, a former president of CBS News, said in a phone interview: “It’s easy to dismiss him as a Damon Runyonesque showman, but when it comes to actual negotiations, he comes in, sits on the couch with a legal pad and pen , and we will go over the details together. He is meticulously detailed and honest.
But if a client was involved in a crisis, Mr. Heyward said, Mr. Leibner would suggest they meet in his office: “He’d say, ‘Come to the jukebox,’ and we’d have discussions near his 1950s jukebox. . That is the place for a sensitive summit.”
Richard Allen Leibner was born on March 15, 1939, in Brooklyn. His father, Sol, is a certified public accountant. His mother, Eleanor (Zelon) Leibner, was a school teacher.
After graduating from the University of Rochester with a bachelor’s degree in business in 1959, Mr. Leibner earned a Master of Business Administration degree from New York University in 1963. At the time, he was working as an accountant with his father, with clients in the music publishing and record businesses.