Condé Nast after Si Newhouse is focusing on fiscal discipline

At Condé Nast, a unit of the Newhouse family’s Advance Publications Inc., 13 of the 16 monthly magazines have experienced a decline in ad pages, although the company’s president, Bob Sauterberg, says all the magazines are profitable,

a

Wall Street Journal

report noted.

The


Journal


article pointed out that Condé Nast’s chairman, Si Newhouse, who “was the magazine publisher’s greatest champion,” has stepped back from day-to-day duties, “and the magazine can no longer rely on his largess.”

The


Journal


report said that since Newhouse stepped back, “The family has put Condé Nast in the hands of its senior managers — including Mr. Sauerberg — and is holding them accountable via a small board of directors.” This has resulted in “a marked difference in fiscal discipline,” the article said.

Sauerberg sold Condé Nast’s Fairchild Fashion Media group of publications and replaced the company’s chief financial officer, the report noted. He has also invested more than $45 million to build up Condé Nast’s digital entertainment unit, the article said.

Steve Newhouse, a nephew of Si Newhouse, is chairman of Advance’s digital arm, the


Journal


article said.  (Source:


Wall Street Journal


, Oct. 27, 2014.)