From Records to Racetracks: Jerry Moss’ Remarkable Journey

Born on May 8, 1935, during the Great Depression in New York City, Jerome Sheldon Moss grew up in the Bronx. He earned an English degree from Brooklyn College and served in the U.S. Army before embarking on a career in the music industry during the late 1950s as a promoter for Coed Records in New York. After relocating to California in 1960, he met Alpert, a trumpet player whose Tijuana Brass band would later achieve significant success. The duo invested $100 each to initiate A&M Records in a garage.

Alpert and Moss sold A&M Records to Polygram for an estimated $500 million in 1989.