The Business of Magazines

[caioherrero]

Matthew Marden is so good

 

[8eight]

UK Vogue is £2 AGAIN in the shops this month...

 

[axiomatic]

https://nypost.com/2019/06/04/bustle-raids-elle-for-new-editor-in-chief/

Keith J. Kelly
2 minutes
Bustle Digital Group, where longtime editor-in-chief Kate Ward resigned mid-April, has raided Hearst-owned Elle for its newest EIC, Emma Rosenblum.

She was the No. 2 editor under Nina Garcia on the fashion title.

Bustle CEO Bryan Goldberg — who had previously founded and sold Bleacher Report — for the past year has been snapping up previously high-priced digital properties for bargain prices.

His millennial-women-focused titles could clearly use a traffic boost. Back in April 2018, according to Comscore, the sites that now make up the Bustle Digital Group attracted 45.2 million unique monthly visitors. Through April 2019, the figure had only risen to 46 million.

More worrisome, the flagship Bustle was down 14.8%, from 31,880,000 unique visitors in April 2018 to 27,164,000 by April 2019.

Rosenblum will oversee Bustle, the mom-focused Romper and the general-interest Elite Daily and the Zoe Report, as well as Mic. The latter site was picked up for under $5 million in November after the previous owner laid off the entire staff.

Not included in Rosenblum’s portfolio is Gawker.com, headed by longtime Details editor-in-chief Dan Peres, which BDG picked up for $1.35 million at a bankruptcy auction in July 2018. It has yet to relaunch since founder Nick Denton shut it down in April 2016. BDG hopes for a relaunch in 2019.

Rosenblum could not be reached for comment, but she broke the news via Twitter on Tuesday. “I will so miss working with all my wonderful colleagues at @ELLEmagazine! I’m eternally grateful to the brilliant, hilarious @ninagarcia for being the best editor in chief and for making such a beautiful, smart, necessary magazine.”

 

[axiomatic]

Esquire Gets New Editor in Chief

Kali Hays
5-6 minutes
Hearst Magazines is taking a digital swerve with its choice for the new editor in chief of Esquire.

Michael Sebastian, currently digital director for the magazine, is its new editor, making for a major leap on the masthead. Sebastian has been at Esquire for only about two years, but joined Hearst in 2015 as senior editor and then director of its digital news division. Before that, he was a reporter, with a stint covering media for AdAge and before that several years covering p.r. industry news for Lawrence Ragan Communications.

As first reported by WWD, Nick Sullivan, currently Esquire’s fashion director since 2004, is getting a promotion. He will now be the magazine’s creative director, a new role. Sources have speculated that Sullivan’s role is essentially co-equal to that of Sebastian’s, but will focus more on fashion and the magazine. Both men are taking up their new roles immediately.

As for Sebastain, his is quite a different résumé from that of his predecessor, Jay Fielden, whose abrupt exit from Esquire last month was also first reported by WWD. Fielden spent his entire career as a magazine editor, first at Condé Nast then Hearst, but new leadership at the latter seems to have no qualms with giving younger, more digitally willing and savvy editors top spots, regardless of age or magazine experience. As one source put it, Esquire is headed for “a full Cosmo,” referring to Cosmopolitan magazine going under the leadership of the relatively young Jessica Pels, who was also digital director of the magazine’s site before getting the job. Pels has made no secret of her willingness to go to Instagram for inspiration for the magazine’s design, layouts and coverage, and also her reliance on social media and trending topics to boost online traffic. And it’s working. For the first quarter, mobile traffic to the site was up 24.7 percent year over year and video was up 500 percent, while combined print and digital readership was up 5 percent, according to data from The Association of Magazine Media.

Traffic indeed seems to be the focus of Troy Young, Hearst Magazines president, in installing Sebastian. In a statement on the new editor, Young said site traffic had tripled under Sebastian’s leadership and he had “significantly expanded the brand’s digital footprint.

“His strong leadership, entrepreneurial spirit and innovative approach to creating content will now benefit all of Esquire’s platforms, serving the brand’s audience and advertisers in an even more ambitious way,” Young added.

Kate Lewis, the chief content officer for Hearst Magazines, noted Sebastian’s qualities as an editor, opposed to merely a traffic-getter, calling him “a great storyteller and a champion of features and reporting.”

But she, too, ultimately cited his Internet savvy. “He is also a wise editorial strategist, listening to the audience and acting responsively,” she said in the memo. “He has raised the bar on the web site, around style and culture particularly, and has accelerated growth on the politics beat. I look forward to him bringing this enterprising and polished approach to his new role and combining these two strong teams, print and digital.”

That combination has been coming for some time, with chatter of Esquire getting a digital makeover starting not long after Young became president last year. Now there is talk internally of more editorial casualties with that combination coming into effect. Already, it’s significantly shifted the top of the masthead, including the abrupt exit of Michael Hainey, who was executive director of editorial, the number-two position under Fielden, which is not expected to be filled. Other changes will surely come as Sebastian goes about hiring and promoting his own team.

And changes to content and overall look will surely come, too, not least with the success of Cosmopolitan, and while Esquire’s rival in the men’s space, GQ, is skewing younger and more pop-oriented, with covers of influencers and young musicians, respectively. Trending news and e-commerce pushes online are also big initiates at both outlets.

“Leading this iconic brand in digital for the past two years, reimagining how an 86-year-old magazine exists and thrives in the 21st century, has been an incredibly rewarding experience,” Sebastian said in the memo. “Every day on the Internet is a referendum on a brand’s relevance, and I am excited to bring that kind of thinking to all platforms for Esquire.”

 

[axiomatic]

Pride Month Starts With Out Magazine on Shaky Ground

Kali Hays
7-8 minutes
It’s officially Pride Month and the future of Out magazine, one of the only LGBTQ outlets in the country, may be in jeopardy.

After a dramatic year that has included a staff exodus, stonewalling of freelancers, bringing on a new editor in chief and staffers, pay cuts and a lawsuit, all first reported by WWD, then the sudden resignation of the chief executive officer and the threatened resignation of the new editor in chief, the LGTBQ magazine could have one problem too many.

The events have all taken place since Out and other assets previously owned by Here Media were bought in 2017 by Oreva Capital, an investment company founded by Adam Levin, and put under the new holding company Pride Media. Levin has been promising in recent weeks an infusion of capital for Out that has yet to materialize, according to sources. At least three deadlines for the money, set to pay freelancers who contributed to the June/July issue and now needed to meet upcoming demands and vendor payments, have passed, including one on Monday. Phillip Picardi, the editor in chief who former Pride ceo Nathan Coyle lured from Teen Vogue, is said to be well on his way out of the magazine, along with most, if not all, of his staff. If operations continue as they are, it’s being speculated that the end of summer could coincide with the end of Out in print, not least considering that the most recent June/July issue almost failed to come out for lack of financing.

There is worry that even planned events at the end of June around Pride Month — a must for a magazine created by and for the LGTBQ community for nearly 30 years — are at risk, since bills for vendors are due upfront and there is said to be no money yet available for their payment. Again, Levin has told staff that there would be a cash injection, but it has yet to materialize. Even if money does come through at some point, another financial hurdle seems likely and current staff is thought to have lost trust in the company.

Levin told WWD that Pride plans to have freelancers and vendors paid in full by the end of this week and it will then be back to “paying any freelancers in the normal course of business.”

Still, there has been internal talk of and planning for further budget cuts around Out, including going to an all-freelance model. Levin denied there were any such plans. Nevertheless, speculation around the possible demise of Out, at least in its current iteration, is starting in earnest.

There may be a buyer interested in coming to the rescue, however.

The founder of Celebrity Page TV is said to have been in talks with Levin to either acquire Out/Pride or invest with the goal of acquiring it outright in the months to come. While Levin is said to have been initially open to an investment, and even put a price tag of $20 million on the assets, it’s thought that talks have become difficult as access and transparency in order to properly evaluate a deal has become an issue. A representative of Celebrity Page TV could not be reached.

Levin for his part denied outright that there was any talk of selling the company “right now” and said that Pride “just closed a new round of funding from existing investors.” He declined to specify the amount or the investors, saying an announcement is planned for next week.

“The company has no intentions of selling a controlling interest at this time and its investors believe in its path forward,” Levin added.

Should a sale come to pass and Out go back to being under the ownership of someone in the gay community, as it would under the founder of Celebrity Page for instance, it’s thought that Picardi and the current Out team would be open to staying on. Should any such sale fall through, industry sources have speculated a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing may be in the cards.

Filing for bankruptcy could offer Pride an escape from mounting costs and a new group of unpaid freelancers. Interview magazine pulled off a similar maneuver last year, only to be bought back by its wealthy owner Peter Brant for a song and signed over to be run (for the second time) by his eldest daughter.

A Chapter 11 process would also leave open the possibility of Levin trying to buy the assets again with a new holding company (something he tried to do last year with Penthouse magazine, which he had a stake in) or a sale to a new owner. A bankruptcy sale would likely mean the only secured claim Pride would face would be a loan Oreva is thought to have borrowed to acquire Out and the other Pride assets. ExWorks Capital is the lender of the roughly $10 million Oreva borrowed to fund the acquisition, said by sources to be a rather high interest loan. Oreva is thought to have been missing interest payments, too, creating even more financial pressure for Out and Pride. A representative of ExWorks could not be reached for comment.

Again, Levin denied any such plans or discussions for Pride, saying Chapter 11 “wouldn’t accomplish much for the company,” citing the cost of the process compared to the company’s current outstanding payments.

“The company has recorded over $10 million of revenue to date this year and is on its way to its highest grossing year in many years,” he added. “With that said, previous management led us down a path that didn’t work and we’ve had to realign the cost structure.” Levin also claimed that Pride hit $3 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and expects to hit $4 million this year.

In the event that neither a sale nor a bankruptcy occur — and Levin insisted they won’t — there’s talk that he may want to try and implement his original plan, first reported by WWD, of taking Pride public. Levin has attempted to take his other media asset High Times public as well through a Reg A+ filing (known as a “mini-IPO” — something akin to a regulated crowdfunding campaign), which is what he had planned for Pride. The process at High Times has been repeatedly delayed due to lack of funding, most recently at the end of May. ExWorks has also entered into loan agreements with Oreva regarding High Times worth $13 million, according to SEC records.

As for Out magazine, the irony of the outlet being imperiled under its first straight owner isn’t lost on many who work there. Even more than that, its financial issues are coming to a head during Pride Month and around the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, widely seen as an inciting incident to the gay rights and subsequent LGTBQ movements, without which Out would likely never have existed.

 

[axiomatic]

So it's either she knowingly set Beto O'Rourke up and knew that coverline would make waves, or she didn't know it would make waves which......I mean both are really quite embarrassing to be honest.

Love how Beto was so shocked when he saw the coverline on the newsstand. Just shows what a rookie he is. He should ask Jennifer Aniston how it feels to be 'misrepresented' with a coverline, lol.

In just a few months he's gone from the cover of VF to getting 2% in the latest Iowa poll..

 

[tigerrouge]

The Gretchen Mol effect.

 

[Benn98]

The Gretchen Mol effect.

For those of you who are at a loss re the above reference....

13 COVERS WE GOT WRONG

Gretchen Wretchen Mol (September 1998)

Picking who appears on the cover of Vanity Fair any given month can feel like throwing darts at a board. And sometimes the person throwing those darts has no fingers. Enter Gretchen Mol for the September 1998 issue. Until then, September-issue cover subjects included quantified money-makers like Sylvester Stallone, Michelle Pfeifer, and Julia Roberts. In a twist of hubris, the cover reads, “Is She Hollywood’s Next ‘It’ Girl?” The editors of Vanity Fair would have done well to ask themselves the question first—while Mol is lately back on top with her role on Boardwalk Empire, this cover marked the beginning of a sleepy period in her career that lasted half a decade.

Vanity Fair

 

[reesewu]

I think before we point the finger at the mediocrity of editors, magazine executives need to take a deep look into their management first. No wonder the quality of print’s content continues to decline with all the forms of employee mistreatment that have happened. But then again, it’s all very systematic and structural. A law to discipline the digital monopoly needs to come to fruition if we want to see any sight of printed information in the future.

 

[tigerrouge]

Indeed, employee mistreatment has always happened in the media, even in the golden days. It happens in any industry where management can turn around to the foot soldiers and say: "Everyone wants this 'glamorous' job, so you can be easily replaced by someone willing to work under even worse conditions".

We're just hearing about it more because the rot has now reached every level. Due to lack of resources and money, the industry has been stripped of many of its superstar editors, and once a magazine loses its figurehead - and a lot of its legend - what we're left looking at (and hearing about) is the same old churn that always happened down through the decades to people at the lower levels. Underlings being abused, people going unpaid, staff being hired and fired.

Sure, some people had cushy lives working for a magazine, but it's hardly a surprise that was all part of the image the industry wanted to sell. But now there's no mystique about it.

 

[axiomatic]

Interesting twitter thread from the writer whose Bryan Singer story Hearst leadership killed for Esquire. The whole thread is worth a read. Embarrassing for Hearst..

 

[amby]

Rinke Tjepkema is Vogue Netherlands’ new EIC

 

[Benn98]

Hahaha, the shade dripping from that Insta post.
'I grew up reading international Vogues' = 'I know what I'm talking about, and what Vogue is supposed to be.
'...creating an even more relevant, inclusive and personal Vogue' - enough said, she did say 'even' though.

Anyway, I don't know her from Adam but I'm looking forward to seeing what she'll do with Dutch Vogue. Can't be worse than Karin surely. I was amazed when I could narrow down only a handful of covers which I truly liked under Karin.

 

[caioherrero]

Who is she?

 

[caioherrero]

Poppy Kain is not anymore senior fazhion editor at British Vogue, she’s now a contributor. So now the magazine only have contributors in the fashion team. So odd

 

[Benn98]

Ugh, there goes the best thing that happened to American Vogue post-Grace! At least his work refreshed the magazine somewhat. Hopefully he'll still be able to shoot for the magazine in some capacity. If not, it will mean it's back to Tonne on the edge of retirement and therefore not seeming too invested, Camilla and her chunky styling, and dull as dishwater Jordan Bickham on full rotation.

Anna, you're going to need a new star, and fast! These three will run the magazine to the ground. She can't be too pleased about this too, especially after the splashy introduction in her editor's letter a few months ago.


I-D Names Carlos Nazario Global Fashion Director

Nazario had joined the magazine last year as its senior fashion editor.

By WWD Staff on June 17, 2019

GOING GLOBAL: i-D has a new global fashion director in Carlos Nazario, who joined the magazine last year as its senior fashion editor. He will start immediately in his role, succeeding i-D’s last fashion director and now editor in chief Alastair McKimm. An announcement is expected Monday.

New York native Nazario, who cut his teeth as Joe McKenna’s first assistant, will be responsible for leading i-D’s fashion team and commissioning stories and features for the brand across print, digital and video, according to owners Vice Media.

He will report to McKimm, who called Nazario a first-class stylist and “the voice of a new generation. He embodies i-D through and through.”

“I-D is such a huge part of the reason I work in fashion today,” said Nazario. “I have always been inspired by the ethos of the brand, and its commitment to documenting the most exciting, heartfelt, relevant and colorful stories happening in our global culture.”

Nazario worked for McKenna for six years before becoming a freelance stylist and creative consultant. Throughout his career he has worked alongside photographers and artists including Mario Sorrenti, Collier Schorr, and Mert and Marcus.

WWD

 

[axiomatic]

Condé Nast’s W Magazine Sale to Surface Falters
Kali Hays
4-5 minutes
A seemingly done deal to sell W magazine stands a chance of falling apart.

Although the Condé Nast glossy only a couple of weeks ago was said to be very near being sold to the operators of design-centric Surface magazine, with papers all but signed, the deal could now be materially different or even fall through, sources now tell WWD.

The hold up was initially thought to be the sale price, with Surface trying to drive down the purported price tag of between $7 million to $8 million. But since a WWD report on the deal and the parties involved, the professional history of Surface chief executive officer Marc Lotenberg and his purported financial backer Magna Entertainment are said to have become an issue for some staffers.

One such is W’s longtime editor in chief Stefano Tonchi, who initially supported the deal but is said to be no longer interested in going forward with a sale to Surface, which has turned off some of his higher-profile staff as well. Unwilling staffers might be welcome to a buyer under different circumstances, but for W, Tonchi in particular is important to the survival of the brand at its current status. He is the face of the magazine and generally well liked in the fashion community, pulling in ads and high-profile covers and contributors that an outlet like Surface would have a hard time garnering without him. Yes, they could certainly get someone else to do the job, but Surface would be hard pressed to get someone with Tonchi’s clout.

It’s entirely possible that Condé executives, said to be somewhat frustrated at how long it’s taken to sell W (Adrian Cheng’s C Ventures was a front-runner before Surface), end up selling the magazine to Surface anyway, without all of the staff on board. Some staffers are also thought to be more ambivalent about the potential sale and willing to stay on. Talks on that front are ongoing, as Surface continues to work on financing, but should most of W’s staff come out against the sale, it would very likely put the sale in real jeopardy. As it stands, W is operating as usual at Condé, already having gotten its yearly budget. Fall issues are thought well into production.

A Condé spokesman declined to comment and a representative of Surface could not be reached.

Until second thoughts came about, Surface, which is a quarterly print publication but has shifted online to focus on lists, e-commerce and travel (read: traffic drivers), was poised to create a new holding company for W and let it maintain a level of operational independence. But some people have become wary of going into business with Surface and even Magna Entertainment. Some staff worried about cuts and operations post-sale, even if they were to sign on as part of the deal. Surface has gained a less than glowing reputation in media circles in recent years as an operation with very high turnover (there were some cuts two weeks ago and nearly all of its editorial employees left last year with other cycles before that) and a difficult workplace culture purportedly led by Lotenberg. Industry chatter, as well as public workplace reviews online, have singled out the ceo for issues within the relatively small operation.

Lotenberg became the ceo of Surface in 2012, when it was sold by Sandow Media in an unannounced deal to Lotenberg and Eric Crown, who cofounded the business IT company Insight Enterprises and in 2014 the magazine was put under Surface Media LLC. Although Sandow only owned Surface for a year, it in 2017 took up a minority stake in the operation through another deal. Sandow had previous dealings with Lotenberg when it bought his first troubled media venture 944 out of bankruptcy, driven in part by a number of lawsuits.

Condé Nast’s W Magazine Sale to Surface Falters

 

[Xone]

Tonchi is out at W and Sara Moonves is the new editor-in-chief all of this after acquisition of W magazine by Surface magazine owner.

Source: BOF

 

[RMDV]

Tonchi is out at W and Sara Moonves is the new editor-in-chief all of this after acquisition of W magazine by Surface magazine owner.

Source: BOF

can you post the full article? don't have a BoF account

 

[Xone]

The complete article. Source BOF

Stefano Tonchi Exits W After Acquisition by Surface Magazine Owner
Marc Lotenberg, chief executive and chairman of the newly formed Future Media Group, has named Style Director Sara Moonves editor-in-chief after acquiring the fashion magazine from Condé Nast.


NEW YORK, United States — Condé Nast has finally found a buyer for WMagazine, but long-time Editor-in-Chief Stefano Tonchi will not lead the title into its new era.

The large-format magazine, known for its avant-garde fashion shoots and Hollywood portfolios, will join the arts and design magazine Surface in the newly formed Future Media Group, which acquired W on Monday. A representative for Condé Nast confirmed the transaction.

Future Media’s Chief Executive and Chairman Marc Lotenberg named W’s Style Director Sara Moonves as editor-in-chief, reporting to him. The magazine will continue to publish eight issues a year while expanding its digital content and diversifying its revenue through memberships, events and television projects, Lotenberg said in an interview.

Lotenberg is an owner of the newly formed media company, along with Eric Crown — a tech millionaire and prominent Republican fundraiser based in Arizona — and Sandow Media, publisher of several specialists titles including NewBeauty, as well as other undisclosed stakeholders. The New York Post in May reported W’s sale price at around $7 million.

“I’m honoured to be a custodian of the brand and take it into its next frontier,” Lotenberg said, adding that he bought W because he wants to transform legacy titles into “something that is just more than media.”

“W is W because of our amazing contributors, and I look forward to continuing to work with them in my new role,” said Moonves in a press release.

W is the last of three Condé Nast titles to find a buyer in a round of sales initiated last summer by former Chief Executive Bob Sauerberg, as the publisher focused on top-tier publications like Vogue and Bon Appétit. In May, Discovery Inc acquired Golf Digest for $35 million and Barry Diller’s digital media company Dotdash acquired Brides.

Tonchi joined W in 2010 and is a respected editor and a favourite among advertisers. He pushed the luxury-focused W, already known for its conceptual photography when he arrived, to have more substance and be more ambitious in its coverage of fashion, art and Hollywood, reviving its business following a post-recession decline in advertising.

In recent years, Condé Nast cut the number of print issues from 10 to eight and Tonchi repositioned the issues as limited-edition collectibles, while boosting the title’s online presence. He was involved in the nine-month search for a buyer and was widely expected to continue in his role under new ownership. But those plans fell through due to reported disagreements with Lotenberg over, among other things, salary, according to sources with knowledge of the negotiations.


Lotenberg declined to comment on the specifics of Tonchi's departure.

"My top priority in the last year has been to ensure that W finds a new home and carries its legacy into the future, and that every effort is made to protect my staff’s job security," said Tonchi via email. "I worked very hard to bring in and meet every prospective buyer. In my view, what is required is a larger vision, a proven track record, international experience, a robust business model with multiple revenue streams, and an ability to anticipate market trends, and ultimately, to innovate.

The editor will not remain at Condé Nast in some other role and said he will share new plans in the coming months.

“I think he’s done a wonderful job at the brand, but from an innovative standpoint and where we are looking to go, I think women’s fashion should be seen through women’s point of view,” said Lotenberg, highlighting the fact that Moonves is W's first female editor-in-chief.

Lontenberg said Future Media will make offers to all current full-time employees at W and some contractors. Amber Estabrook, vice president of revenue at Condé Nast, will become Future Media’s chief revenue officer and will bring with her several salespeople based in Paris and Milan. Lynn Hirschberg, W’s most prominent contributor known for her decades-long career covering Hollywood and for her popular “Screen Test” video series, will stay through the remainder of her current contract ending later this year and is in talks to extend after that.

“We’re excited to invest behind her,” said Lotenberg. “She’s a genius.”

Rickie De Sole, W's fashion director who spends most of her time on Vogueprojects already, will stay with the title full time.

It’s unclear who exactly on the editorial team will make the transition at this point, but some W staffers who don’t make the cut may also have the option to remain at Condé Nast at other titles. Lotenberg declined to comment on potential layoffs but said there will be some shared staff roles between Future Media’s publications.

The question now is if Surface’s new parent company has a strategy to steer W through a brutal period of declining advertising revenue that has seen other publications cut back print, file for bankruptcy or shutter all together. Future Media will need plenty of cash to support a fashion title accustomed to hiring expensive photographers like Steven Meisel, Steven Klein and Tim Walker to shoot elaborate editorials. It’s a different business model than that of Surface and sister title Watch Journal.


Lotenberg said he is confident in W’s future growth, citing the “super dedicated passionate people” already on staff. “It’s time to make tough decisions and change is not for everyone. We know what technology needs to be put into place.” Some editorial roles will be shared among Future Media’s three titles.

Lotenberg said he is committed to print, although the distribution model may change. (Subscribers will still receive their issues.) Surface, printed six times a year with a rate base of 100,000, is no longer available on newsstands and is distributed in 25,000 hotel rooms, 350 private jet terminals, some specialty and available to purchase online. He said he believes in a content-first model across all platforms where the audience is already engaged.

“The competitions for media companies aren’t other media brands anymore — everyone’s a content producer,” he said. “I think the problem that’s happening in media right now is media companies are all over the place: they’re print-first, or digital-first or social-first or video-first. And those are all the wrong answers. The right answer is content first... where they distribute are just channels.”

It’s unclear how Lotenberg will alter the path forward for W that Tonchi charted in recent years. The editor built out a web team and produced more videos and introduced a newsletter. Tonchi was vocal in the months since the sale’s announcement last year that Condé Nast did not sufficiently invest in the title’s growth. W’s website averaged 2.1 million monthly visitors between March and May 2019, according to global data from SimilarWeb. (In the same period, Surface Magazine averaged 69,000.) W's licensed edition in Korea is also part of the acquisition.

Surface’s most recent acquisition is the agency Culture+Commerce, which merged into the company in 2017 and is no longer functional, though it still generates revenue from licensing businesses. Lotenberg said the company is reconsidering how to relaunch it, but W’s integration is the focus.

Lotenberg’s previous publishing venture was 944 Media, parent of the magazine he founded, 944 Magazine. At one point, he described the company as the largest and fastest-growing regional lifestyle media group in the country, but it filed for bankruptcy a year later in 2010. At that time, the business was entangled in several lawsuits, including one targeting Future Media-investor Crown — who also backed 944 Media through a third company — over mismanagement around a costly Super Bowl party organised by the company. The suit was eventually settled out of court in 2015.

Sandow Media, then owner of Surface, acquired 944 Media in 2011 for a reported $1.3 million. The following year, Sandow sold Surface to Crown and Lotenberg, and the company reinvested in the business in 2017.

In 2007, Lotenberg and another employee were sued by three former female employees of 944 Media for gender discrimination, a hostile work environment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and wrongful termination. The case was also settled later that year.

Lotenberg declined to comment about the aforementioned lawsuits, but later added over email that all the disputes were resolved amicably. "It's unfortunate that we had an isolated individual employee in one of our offices that did not live up to our high standards. We dealt with the situation with a zero tolerance policy," he said via email, explaining that he was named in the second suit in his capacity as CEO.

Recent media reports have suggested that in addition to other disagreements, Tonchi was hesitant to work with Lotenberg.

“Change is not for everyone,” Lotenberg said in reference to reported negative criticism of his leadership. “I came into Surface, which needed fixing, and I made tough decisions that are important to improve the brand.” He said the company now “has very little turnover.”

Future Media also plans to offer all employees equity vesting agreements starting in 2020.

Moonves, 34, is a well-liked stylist who started her career working for Phyllis Posnick at Vogue in 2007. She later followed Sally Singer to T: The New York Times Style Magazine in 2010 and then returned to Vogue. Tonchi hired her at W to help will the void left by Edward Enninful when he was named editor-in-chief at British Vogue in 2017.

She is also well-connected in fashion, Hollywood and media; her father is Les Moonves, the former chief executive of CBS, who resigned last year after multiple allegations of sexual assault and harassment. Neither Sara Moonves nor her father, Les Moonves, are investors in Future Media, according to a source with knowledge of their involvement.

Sara Moonves is taking the helm of a magazine with a nearly 50-year history that has continued to rack up industry accolades even as its circulation has declined.

W was founded by publisher John Fairchild as a large-format society paper companion to industry newspaper Women’s Wear Daily in 1972, and re-conceived as a glossy consumer magazine in 1993 under Editorial Director Patrick McCarthy. Condé Nast’s parent company Advance Publications acquired W when it bought Fairchild Publications from Disney in 1999 and folded the magazine into Condé Nast when Tonchi was hired in 2010.

Before joining Condé Nast, Tonchi was the editor of T: The New York Times Style Magazine and held senior roles at Esquire, Self and L’Uomo Vogue. He was also a creative consultant at J. Crew for two years.

Tonchi brought over Hirschberg and her “Screen Test” videos (which she has trademarked) from T. He also hired Enninful from American Vogue, who styled many of W’s celebrated avant-garde covers and editorials before becoming editor-in-chief of British Vogue.

During Tonchi’s tenure, W has won four National Magazine Awards for photography and been a finalist in the general excellence category three times. Most recently it won the 2019 feature photography category for a 2018 issue photographed by all women and guest edited by cover subject and actress Cate Blanchett.

As of 2019, W reports 1.1 million print readers, 6.8 million followers on social media and 26.6 million video views. While circulation has remained mostly steady over the last five years at just over 450,000, average issue single-copy sales have decreased from 24,500 in the second half of 2014 to about 5,000 in the second half of 2018, according to the Alliance for Audited Media.