Freston: Smuggled three tons of clothes across St. Lawrence Seaway
Tom Freston · Broke and in debt at 33 — then he built MTV (co-founder Tom Freston) · Aug 13, 2026 · at 3:42
Tom Freston (MTV co-founder and former Viacom CEO) describes how his early garment export business in India and Afghanistan responded to trade restrictions imposed by the Carter administration.
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“I sent three tons of clothes to Montreal and we smuggled them over the St. Lawrence Seaway, which was insane.”
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