Clark Howard is a self-made millionaire who made his fortune in the travel agency business. Howard attended the Westminster Schools in Atlanta before graduating from the American University in 1976 with a B.A. in urban government. He went on to receive his Master of Business Administration degree from Central Michigan University in 1977. In 1987, he retired from the travel agency business he founded in 1981 and began giving travel advice in guest appearances on Atlanta radio. His segments were so popular that he was soon given his own radio show. On Fridays, Clark devotes an hour of his show to Atlanta listeners in need of travel advice. This segment, called the Friday Flier, usually airs from 3—4 p.m. in Atlanta. He often suggests to Atlanta residents looking for deals to the West Coast, to drive to Birmingham, Alabama to get cheaper deals.
Clark explained on air that he was joining the Georgia State Defense Force (a non-federal branch of the Georgia Department of Defense), shortly after the terrorist attacks of 2001. Clark enjoys going to Chick-Fil-A in his Army Combat Uniform for chicken nuggets and Coke Zero with no ice. He also enjoy reading the Wall Street Journal with his meal. He drives a modest Toyota Prius and has pre-ordered an electric car called the Nissan Leaf.
Clark has hinted that he will be running for political office sometime, stating on The Neal Boortz Show that he is "not yet" ready to announce his candidacy. In May 2007, he told a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he was still considering running for Mayor of Atlanta in 2009, when Shirley Franklin reaches her term limit.
Clark has recently been diagnosed with a "little league" cancer of the prostate. He made it public on WSBTV-2 on February 18, 2009. He gave another update three months later on his Web site.
Media personality
In 2009, HLN (formerly Headline News) began airing a weekend show featuring Clark Howard. The format is similar to Howard's radio show, in that the host gives advice to callers and provides tips on saving money. Clark also appears in other instances on HLN such as on Morning Express with Robin Meade.
Clark also regularly appears on WSB-TV in Atlanta, which is occasionally also broadcast by other Cox Television stations nationwide. His TV appearances offers consumer scam warnings and consumer tips. He is syndicated by Dial Global. Clark was featured in a Discovery Health Channel special where he and his wife Lane discuss money matters with couples struggling with their finances.
Although his radio show is supported in part by national sponsors, Clark has stated on air he does not accept money for personal endorsements. This is of note as he often states strongly-worded opinions and research, both pro and con, on various consumer issues, companies, and products.
He started several civic programs in the community, such as Atlanta Volunteer Action, Volunteer Action, Inc., The Big Buddy Program, and Career Action. In 1993, Howard opened the Consumer Action Center, an advice service for consumer questions which is staffed by 150 volunteers.
In 2006, Howard appeared at the meeting of the mouths with Sean Hannity and Neal Boortz in Dayton, Ohio. Dayton is the original home of Cox Enterprises, which employs both Howard and Boortz.
Also in 2006, Clark Howard began hosting the series "Get Clark Smart with Clark Howard" on Rainbow Media's free VOD Channel Mag Rack. This 20 episode series has shows featuring information on "Buying a New Home", "Kids & Money", "Saving for College", "Buying a Used Car", "Home Renovations" and more.
With help from his listeners, Clark began teaming up with Habitat for Humanity in 1996 to build houses around the Atlanta area. 2010 marked the 15th anniversary build and "Team Clark" completed its 39th house together.
Author
Howard is author of several books on consumer tips and bargains. His books include Clark Smart Real Estate (2006), Clark Smart Parents, Clark Smart Kids (2005), Clark's Big Book of Bargains (2003) and Get Clark Smart: The Ultimate Guide to Getting Rich From America's Money-Saving Expert (2002). Clark's "Get Clark Smart", made it to No. 6 on The New York Times "Best Seller" list for "How-To Books." And his Big Book of Bargains made it to No. 7 and No. 11 on The New York Times "Best Seller" list for "Business Books".
On March 23, 2010, Howard announced that he was working on a new book titled Clarkonomics. Listener submissions or anecdotes that show how the consumer advocate's advice has helped his audience save more, spend less and avoid rip-offs are being collected at ClarkHoward.com for possible inclusion in the new book.
To the dismay of his publishers, Clark often enthusiastically encourages his listeners to buy used copies of his books rather than new ones (even though neither the publishers nor Clark make any money off the sale of used books).
Bank of America controversy
In January of 2006, a San Francisco man, Matthew Shinnick, was arrested and jailed when he tried to cash a check at a Bank of America branch after receiving it from someone who had seen his ad for bicycles on Craig's List. Matthew listed the bicycles for $600. Someone, reportedly from Canada, emailed Matthew agreeing to purchase the bikes sight unseen. Shortly thereafter, Matthew received a check in the mail for $2000. He took the check to a local Bank of America branch and asked the teller if sufficient funds were in the account listed on the check as Clark suggests to his listeners. The teller replied in the affirmative and Matthew decided to cash the check. While the transaction was processing, a red flag caught the attention of the teller who called the owner of the checking account to verify the check. The account owner informed the teller no check had been written to Matthew Shinnick, at which point the teller reported it to her manager. The manager alerted police. Once they arrived, police handcuffed Matthew and took him to a room with no communication from the officers or the bank. Bank of America decided to press charges, and Matthew was arrested for check fraud.
Matthew sat in the bank branch for hours while police figured out what to do and spent the night in jail. Once he was released and not charged, he wanted to clear his name legally so the arrest would not come back to haunt him. Matthew asked Bank of America to pay his legal fees, but Bank of America refused.
Consumer advocate Clark Howard found out about this story some time afterward, and spoke with Shinnick, who spent approximately $14,000 in legal fees to clear his name. After speaking with Bank of America, Clark Howard decided to do something he has never done on air and asked his listeners to close their Bank of America accounts because of what he considered unfair treatment of Matthew. Clark felt banks lobbied Congress to pass unfair laws for consumers and Bank of America could have been more humane. A "BoA Money Loss Meter" on his site reports that listeners have allegedly withdrawn several million dollars and closed their accounts.
After a second on-air conversation with two officers from Bank of America (Alexandra and John), Clark then had an off-air discussion and
Clark Howard spoke live on the Neal Boortz radio show at 11:45 a.m. on 4 October 2006 that "Bank of America is considering taking legal action against me." He stated his listeners claimed to have taken "$27 million out of their accounts" on air (as of October 4, 2006). As a result of this story, a CNN business reporter is following Clark Howard around (per Clark's statement on the Neal Boortz show).
The Bank of America 'Money Loss' Meter as of 25 October 2006 claimed listeners moved over $50 million out of their accounts. While the BoA meter is no longer updated, blog comments continue to show listeners outrage and withdrawal of funds from Bank of America.
Criticism
Howard's Web site hosts a forum called "Clark Stinks!" for people who disagree with his advice. Once each week, Howard's executive producer reads him posts from the "Clark Stinks!" for him to respond to on-air. This segment is then made available on ClarkHoward.com for download as a Web-only exclusive.
Clark has sparred on-air with people who sell certain types of annuities ... specifically, variable annuities and index annuities (or equivalent products that are marketed using different names). Financial advisors have called or written, challenging Clark that his anti-annuity stance is wrong and that it affects their welfare.
