Glossy-magazine publisher S.I. Newhouse dead at 89
By Cynthia Littleton
Published: Oct 1, 2017 11:29 a.m. ET
His Condé Nast empire includes such titles as Vanity Fair, the New Yorker, Vogue, GQ and Bon Appetit
CynthiaLittleton
S.I. Newhouse, from left, with legendary fashion magazine editor Anna Wintour and Oscar de la Renta at an event in New York in September 2011.
S.I. Newhouse, the Condé Nast chairman who presided over the magazine world's glossiest publications and most talked-about editors for more than 40 years, died Sunday. He was 89.
Newhouse's death was confirmed early Sunday by a family spokesman, according to a report on the website of Vogue, one of the cornerstones of the Newhouse family's publishing empire.
"Si Newhouse was the most extraordinary leader," said Anna Wintour, Condé Nast artistic director and editor-in-chief of Vogue. "Wherever he led, I followed, unquestioningly, simply because he put as much faith in me as I had in him. Si never looked at data, or statistics, but went with his instincts, and expected his editors to do the same. He urged us to take risks, and was effusive in his praise when they paid off. Every time I'd preview the latest issue of Vogue with him, he'd encourage me to go for the less expected cover, the more compelling image. Yet there was nothing showy about the way Si led. This humble, thoughtful, highly idiosyncratic man, quite possibly the least judgmental person I've ever known, preferred family, friends, art, movies and his beloved pugs over the flashiness of the New York media world. His personality shaped the entire company. It might have been a huge global media entity, yet Si, who arrived at 4 a.m. every day in an unchanging uniform, ran it like his own personal and very benevolent fiefdom. We'd regularly have lunch — lunches which were scheduled by him six months in advance —and he'd arrive with a yellow legal pad, with maybe three words written on it. So few words, yet somehow they encapsulated so many lessons, lessons which I still strive to put into practice every day I come to work."
Even as the magazine business suffered declines in the digital age, Newhouse spent lavishly on Condé Nast's gold-plated roster of titles that include Vogue, the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Glamour, Wired, Architectural Digest, Details, Self, GQ and Bon Appetit. He had a knack for picking strong editors with the vision to ensure Condé Nast's publications stood out from the pack — personalities who inevitably became celebrities in their own right. Anna Wintour, Graydon Carter, Tina Brown, David Remnick, Ruth Whitney and Diana Vreeland were among the stars in the Condé Nast orbit during Newhouse's long tenure.
By many accounts, Newhouse was soft-spoken and unimposing, a diminutive man who was prone to wearing casual clothing around the office. He shied away from the limelight, preferring to let his magazines and his editors take the bow. But he was a fixture on the New York social scene, a bon vivant who loved the influence exerted on pop culture and high society by his stable of publications. He was known for his prized extensive art collection that adorned the walls of his New York City penthouse.
In addition to overseeing Condé Nast, Newhouse served as chairman of Condé Nast parent company Advance Publications, a holding company for the Newhouse family media empire. The list includes 26 newspapers, including Newark, N.J.'s Star-Ledger, Cleveland's Plain Dealer and Portland, Ore.'s Oregonian; the Parade magazine Sunday insert; a 25% stake in Discovery Communications; and substantial cable TV holdings.
In March 2015 Advance reached a deal with Charter Communications to sell Bright House Networks, the nation's sixth-largest cable operator with 2.2 million subscribers, for $10.4 billion as part of Charter's acquisition of Time Warner Cable. The deal brought the Newhouse clan about $2 billion in cash and a 13%-14% stake in the enlarged Charter Communications.
Born in New York City, Samuel Irving Newhouse Jr. was the scion of the Newhouse empire who dropped out of college and proved to be a late bloomer in his professional life. His father, Samuel Newhouse Sr., was a self-made publishing mogul who built up his newspaper holdings after starting out as a copyboy as a teenager at a New Jersey. He famously bought the Conde Nast magazine group in 1959 as a gift for his wife, Mitzi, who was a reader of Vogue. Samuel Newhouse Sr. died in 1979.
S.I. (or Si) eventually gravitated to the Condé Nast magazines while his younger brother, Donald, took charge of the newspapers. It was reportedly a truism in Newhouse family circles that when it came to business, "Donald makes the money; S.I. spends it." The net worth of the Newhouse brothers was estimated by Forbes in August 2015 at $8.3 billion apiece.
Advance Publications also invested in TV stations in the 1950s and '60s but sold those holdings in 1980 to buy into the burgeoning cable business. Advance/Newhouse Communications, the Syracuse, N.Y.-based cable unit, was headed by Robert Miron, a cousin of S.I. and Donald who is a respected cable TV pioneer.
S.I. Newhouse's approach to running magazines was greatly influenced by his admiration for the aesthetic tone set by of Alexander Liberman, the legendary editorial director of Condé Nast from 1960 to 1991. Newhouse, who was named chairman of Condé Nast in 1975, was known for empowering his editors and backing them unfailingly — unless he lost faith in their vision or leadership qualities; if circumstances warranted, he was quick to make changes.
Condé Nast enjoyed solid growth throughout the 1980s and '90s under Newhouse's leadership. The 1979 launch of Self magazine, designed as a hipper and smarter version of a woman's magazine, proved an early success. The same year, the company acquired GQ and gradually revived what had become a moribund brand.
In 1983 Condé Nast decided to revive a storied title that had become a casualty 50 years earlier of the Great Depression. The relaunch of Vanity Fair was rocky until Tina Brown, who had made a mark as an editor in her native England, was recruited to take the reins in 1984. The magazine famously has a lifetime contract with noted photographer Annie Liebowitz. The publication's annual Oscar night party, inaugurated in 1994, is another examples of Condé Nast's largess. Carter has held the reins of Vanity Fair since 1992, since Brown was dispatched to the New Yorker, the venerable weekly that was rescued from financial troubles by Condé Nast in 1985. Newhouse suffered through 18 years of red ink before the publication turned the corner under current editor David Remnick. Carter recently announced his decision to end his tenure at Vanity Fair in December.
Other acquisitions under Newhouse included Bon Appetit and Architectural Digest in 1993, Wired in 1998 and Fairchild Publications, parent company of fashion bible Women's Wear Daily in 1999. (The bulk of Fairchild Media assets were purchased in 2014 by Penske Media Corp., parent company of Variety.)
One of the most high-profile stumbles in Newhouse's career was the short-lived Portfolio magazine, an effort to add a business-oriented magazine to the stable. The monthly startup reportedly churned through $100 million and shuttered, after just two years, in 2009, as worldwide advertising spending took a dive in the global recession.
Given Newhouse's advancing years, a management transition began at Condé Nast in 2004 when Charles Townsend, former Glamour publisher and Condé Nast COO, was named CEO.
This Variety report previously appeared at NYPost.com.
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