A NEW
Presents
BEGINNING
AMI CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT, AND CEO DAVID J. PECKER’S
HISTORIC ANNOUNCEMENT AT THE 2017 OLYMPIA
WEEKEND, PRESENTED BY AMAZON SPORTS NUTRITION.
BY JIM MANION, IFBB PROFESSIONAL LEAGUE AND NPC PRESIDENT | PHOTOGRAPHS BY PER BERNAL
TRACE IT TO FRIDAY,
MAY 21, 2004. American
Media Inc., which had
acquired Weider Publications
two years earlier, announced
it was now a 50% owner of
the Mr. Olym pia and would
produce the 2004 event,
held Oct. 28–30, in Las Vegas.
The driving force behind
this seismic shift in the
bodybuilding and fitness
world, AMI’s visionary CEO,
President, and Chairman,
David J. Pecker, also made
the claim that total prize
money would eventually hit
the $1 million mark. At that
time, O Weekend totaled
$420,000 (the highest). Even
then, having known David for
only a short period of time,
I was confident that he would
make good on his promise.
And I was not mistaken, as
you will soon see.
92
FLEX | JANUARY 2018
Jim Manion (left) and
David J. Pecker
congratulate Phil
Heath on his seventh
Mr. Olympia win,
Sept. 16, at Orleans
Arena.