Larry King

Founder, Larry King Cardiac Foundation

In 1987, Larry King awoke in the Intensive Care Unit of a New York hospital after undergoing successful quintuple bypass heart surgery. For almost a year, his heart had been failing as a result of cardiovascular disease. Larry was lucky. His hospital bills were covered by insurance. Others are not so lucky. While Larry was recovering from his operation, he made a promise to himself to help others who may not be as lucky.

Larry King is just one of the more than 60 million people in the United States who suffers from heart disease. In his book, Taking on Heart Disease, Larry solicits the help of his celebrity friends, including actors, athletes, comedians, authors, singers and political figures to recount their personal triumphs over heart disease in an effort to educate the ever-growing number of heart disease victims. Since battling heart disease, these beloved recognized figures offer help and hope to heart disease patients. Also contributing to the book are some of the best cardiologists in the world who discuss prevention and treatment.

Shawn Southwick-King

Chair, Larry King Cardiac Foundation

Born and raised in Southern California until she enrolled at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah in 1978, Shawn began performing at the age of three as a child studio vocalist, eventually graduating to singing back-up vocals for motion pictures, television and records for a diverse group of artists such as Neil Diamond, The Beach Boys, Herb Albert, Sergio Mendez, Bobby Sherman and Tennessee Ernie Ford.

Shawn is also a successful businesswoman and entrepreneur, having personally developed, patented and launched the first consumer friendly hair extension product through her Luxurious Hair infomercial in partnership with the American Telecast Corporation, resulting in sales of over $23,000,000 in the first quarter alone. This was a very “hands on” project, taking her to China to source material, develop tooling and quality control methods as well as shipping and receiving procedures.

After wedding CNN’s Larry King in 1997, she decided it was a good time to take a hiatus while they started a family. But she never lost the drive for a career in music, and is now back at work and represented by The William Morris Agency. Shawn was invited to team up with record producer David Foster to record a side for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games Commemorative CD, as well as being part of a Christmas CD featuring various name artists benefiting The Larry King Cardiac Foundation. The latter CD featured her performance on the title track, “Gotta Love the Holidays”, which was also produced by David Foster and features a solo by saxophonist Kenny G.

Shawn currently serves as chairperson of the Larry King Cardiac Foundation, raising much-needed funds to provide life saving cardiac procedures for individuals who, due to limited means and inadequate insurance, would otherwise be unable to receive life saving treatment.

Larry King, Jr.

President, Larry King Cardiac Foundation

Larry King, Jr. was appointed a Board Member of the Larry King Cardiac Foundation in 1998, taking on the helm as President in September 2004.

Larry, Jr.’s hard-driving, business-minded approach has significantly impacted the Foundation in his tenure as President. Over the past five years, the Foundation has saved over 775 lives, which is more than the Foundation did in the prior fifteeen years combined. Larry has placed major emphasis on securing medical supplies at low or no cost, and in negotiating reduced rates with clinics and hospitals in order to assist as many deserving patients as possible.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Larry enjoyed an accomplished career at several Fortune 500 companies. He served as a General Manager/Vice President at Intuit, the maker of software giants QuickBooks, Quicken and TurboTax. In his nine-year career at Intuit, Larry oversaw several business units at the company, reporting directly to the company president. Larry was recognized with the highest award in the company for his efforts in leading his division to record sales and profit attainment as well as excellence in employee satisfaction results. Before Intuit, Larry served as a Director at Household Credit Services, where he led the customer service organization during the early stage growth of the GM Master Card. The launch of the GM card was the largest of its kind in the credit card industry. Larry was a director at American Express, where he managed customer service organizations that supported the Gold and Platinum card customers. Larry received his Bachelor of Communications Degree and his Masters of Business Administration Degree at the University of Miami.

Larry and his wife Shannon reside in Tampa, Florida, and are the proud parents of Asher (eight years old) and twins Max and Stella (six years old). The couple has been involved in various philanthropic efforts such as Habitat for Humanity, The Girls & Boys Club, Consumer Credit Counseling, the Pepin Heart Hospital, Hurricane Club and UM Alumni Asssociation. In addition, they have established an endowment at their children’s school to provide financial support to children who do not have the means to attend.