Advanta, Brian Tierney reach separation deal, or "Brian, I knew ye when..."

Philadelphia Business Journal reports that Advanta Corp. has resolved its contractual issues with former vice chairman and prominent marketing executive Brian Tierney after terminating his employment earlier this year. From the Advanta filing, it looks like Brian won't have to seek employment anytime soon, although the package is rich enough that he clearly can buy just about anything he wants.

I first encountered Brian in 1985 when he formed his first PR firm in Philadelphia, and got legendary Bulletin business columnist Peter Binzen to feature him in one of his first columns for the Inquirer after the Bulletin folded. The column was all about Brian's firm, and barely mentioned his first client, Norfolk Southern, which at the time was favored by then-Transportation Secretary (now North Carolina Senator) Elizabeth Dole to acquire Conrail. It was strange for the piece to focus on Brian, since Binzen and his partner Joseph R. Daughen had penned the original history of the northeastern railroad bankruptcies, The Wreck of the Penn Central.

Later that year, the Buzz column in the Daily News picked up on the fact that when Brian arranged for Norfolk Southern executives to speak at a lunch with local Philadelphia business leaders, there was a "lone Conrail PR person" working the crowd, handing out anti-NS literature...guess who?