Even after John Huey tried to keep Bob Safian on as editor of Fortune during the bloodshed at Time Inc. (or did he?), Safian opted to decamp to the more understanding waters of Joe Mansueto, the financier-cum-publisher whose Inc. and Fast Company are chiseling out space in the marketplace. (Cue Andy Serwer's leap to the top of Fortune.)
Now, since taking over the top job at Fast Company in January (swapping positions with Mark Vamos, who is now editor-at-large for Mansueto Ventures), Bob's first full issue as editor hits newsstands — just as Time Inc.' Fortune and Conde Nast's Portfolio battle on.
And since we'll likely be the only ones to care enough to flip through (nearly) all of its pages, let us offer you a preview.
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It was only about five seconds ago – okay, summer '05 – that the future of Fast Company and Inc. were in peril, what with Gruner + Jahr looking to dump them and not a single reasonable man looking to get into the business of business magazines. And then along came finance type Joe Manuseto and Mansueto Ventures, who plunked down $40 million (for a $550 million pair of mags). Sure, some said he was having a mid-life crisis, but guess who's laughing – or, more accurately, chortling – now?
It's Mansueto, who just got his FAS-FAX numbers. And they're shiny.
In the second half of '06, Inc.'s paid circ stood at 690,000, up some 47 percent from '05 — and putting it at the top of the list for newsstand growth. And as for Fast Company? Paid circ shot to 750,000, up 37 percent. Add to that the boost in web traffic to the mags' sites, and you're looking at one well stacked operation.
So c'mon, Portfolio, with your gloss and charm. Show us how it's supposed to be done. And by "it," of course, we mean "burn through your $100 million budget while Inc. manages to boost newsstand."
It'll be fun, and we'll all get together and roast a pig afterward.
• Since Dakota Fanning is pretty much making bank for her family, it's probably appropriate that she gets whatever she damn well wants at Fred Segal. [Cityrag]
• Michael Jackson is making his move to Bahrain a little more permanent with the purchase of a quarter acre plot of land in the man-made Amway Islands for $1.5 million. Its seclusion will be perfect for, uh, hiding his children from the press. Yeah. That. [NYP]
• The relocated Fulton Fish Market opened for its first day of business at its new Bronx $85 million facility, complying with new federal law that mandates fish be refrigerated. Oh, and not sold by the mob. [NY1]
• Now that actress Amy Carlson is out of a job with Law & Order: Trial By Jury's cancellation, she's got plenty of time to serve on a jury. [New York]
• And we thought Keira Knightley's nip slip had gone unnoticed — or at least undocumented. [The Superficial]
• Jack Osbourne. Cosmo. Naked. Christ. You connect the dots. [A Socialite's Life]
• New Fast Company owner Joe Mansueto's lifestory isn't going to be told with his accomplishments. Rather, by his obnoxious soundbites. [USA Today]
It might not have been Inc. magazine's fault that Gruner + Jahr wanted to unload quicker than New Orleans does its water, but the title deserves a decent jabbing for only just realizing its sale and buyout would be a perfect story for a business magazine.
Like, its business magazine.
We don't plan to make a habit of writing about ourselves. In fact, when G+J AG announced in May that it was putting Inc. (and sister publication Fast Company) up for sale, it never occurred to us that we might end up writing a story about our auction. Obviously, we can't be as dispassionate about our own business as we try to be with others, but it's rare that we have ringside seats for such an interesting process and we learned so much that we decided to share it with you. We hope you'll find it worthwhile.
What we didn't expect, however, was a Les Moonves profile-sized item detailing the backstory of Joe Mansueto's eventual purchase, along with Fast Company. Good luck with that — it's a three-parter.
• With NBC's dismal upfronts, Jeff Zucker is cracking down on the budget, restricting everything from travel expenses to free food.
• The Washington Post is dropping its support of the Department of Defense's Freedom Walk, a 9/11 memorial event, because of its political slant. The Pentagon had been receiving free advertising for the event.
• Somehow Elisabeth Murdoch, the queen bee of the News Corp. family and grandmother to the departed Lachlan, managed to avoid the "asshole" trait while donating her time and money to charity, as the rich are wont to do.
• Syndicated columnist Jeffrey Seglin spends sleepless nights wondering whether he should disclose all of his business dealings, or just some of them.
• Joe Mansueto liked appearing in the pages of Inc. magazine so much, he bought it.
Former Fast Company editor John Byrne might be kicking himself after splitting for alma mater BusinessWeek, as FC's new owner Joe Mansueto would have picked him to head up his new publishing unit. Instead he only tapped John Koten, the EIC of his other new property Inc. magazine, to be the CEO of publishing arm Mansueto Ventures.
Had Byrne stayed on, the chief position would've been split between the two editors. Now it's just Koten who's taking his visions onward, hoping to establish clearer identities for the titles (said with a slight jab at FC). So what's Koten got in the bag for Fast Company?
I want to clarify Fast Company’s mission a bit more, and make sure it has something to do with something that’s going on in the economy now.
Ladies and gents, meet the new Fast Company: Something to do with something — about the economy! Brilliant. We're hearing reports the magazine will have something to do with money, but they're unconfirmed rumors at this point.
Now that Gruner + Jahr have finally completed the sale of Fast Company and Inc. to Chicago-based investment crooner Joe Mansueto (and we're forced to change the category sorting for all new related stories), it's time to turn the buyer from savior into martyr.
Crain's Kate Ryan starts the crucification of the $840 million man by posturing his new buys as evidence of a mid-life crisis. Mansueto is "diversifying" his business dealings from strictly investments and research into the less stable (is it possible?) world of magazine publishing at the same time he's being investigated by the SEC.
Mansueto promises he's not abandoning Morningstar for his new hobby, merely taking a board-level position for his two new magazines. Yet that leaves open the holes left by the radically unfit parent G+J (once a publisher of Parents magazine, in fact, until it sold to Meredith Corp.), with ad pages and circulation way down.
But contrary to what Crain's has to say, we feel it's just a story of a father searching for his kids' affection, and who can make fun of that?
