After his graduation from Harvard University in 1938, Randolph Hearst joined the family business, the Hearst Corporation. Long active in management of the San Francisco Examiner, he eventually he became chairman of the Hearst board from 1973 to 1996, at which time he retired in favor of his nephew George Randolph Hearst Jr
He never had the opportunity to become chief executive officer because his father's will established a trust that had five family (initially his sons, then their heirs) and eight non-family trustees, all serving for life and electing their successors maintaining those proportions. The trustees name the corporation's board of directors, and the trust does not dissolve until all grandchildren of William Randolph Hearst alive at his death have died. It was under Randolph Hearst's chairmanship that the chief executive inherited from his father, Richard E. Berlin, finally retired, but the next three presidents were all also non-family trustees.
On his death, Randolph Hearst's seat as a trustee of his father's will went to Virginia Hearst Randt, the oldest of his five daughters, who also include Patty Hearst.