Adolph Ochs
Born	Adolph Simon Ochs (1858-03-12)March 12, 1858 Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Died	April 8, 1935(1935-04-08) (aged 77) Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S.
Burial place	Temple Israel Cemetery,Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Publisher
Spouse	Effie Wise
Children	Iphigene Ochs Sulzberger
Signature

Adolph Simon Ochs (March 12, 1858 – April 8, 1935) was an American newspaper publisher and former owner ofThe New York Times andThe Chattanooga Times, which is now theChattanooga Times Free Press. Through his only child,Iphigene Ochs Sulzberger, and her husbandArthur Hays Sulzberger, Ochs's descendants continue to publishThe New York Times through the present day.

Ochs was born inCincinnati, Ohio, on March 12, 1858, to Julius Ochs and Bertha Levy, bothGerman Jewish immigrants. His father had leftBavaria for the United States in 1846.^[1] Julius was a highly educated man, fluent in six languages, and he taught at schools throughout theSouth. He supported theUnion during theCivil War.^[2] Ochs' mother Bertha came to the United States in 1848, fleeing theGerman Revolutions inRhenish Bavaria, and lived in theSouth prior to her 1853 marriage to Julius. She sympathized with theConfederacy during theAmerican Civil War, but the conflicting sympathies between husband and wife did not separate their household.^[3]

Following the end of the Civil War, the family moved toKnoxville, Tennessee, in the eastern, Union-affiliated part of the state.^[3] In Knoxville, Adolph studied in the public schools. During his spare time, he delivered newspapers.^[1]

At age 11, Ochs went to work at theKnoxville Chronicle as an office assistant to the newspaper's editor,William Rule, who became a mentor.^[3] In 1871, Ochs worked as a grocer's clerk inProvidence, Rhode Island, while attending night school. He returned to Knoxville, where he was an apprentice to a pharmacist for some time.^[4]

In 1872, Ochs returned to theChronicle as aprinter's devil, who looked after various details in the composing room of the newspaper.^[3] His siblings also worked at the newspaper to supplement the income of their father, a lay religious leader for Knoxville's small Jewish community. TheChronicle was the only Republican, pro-Reconstruction, newspaper in the city, but Ochs countedFather Ryan, the Poet-Priest of the Confederacy, among his customers.^[5]

At the age of 19, Ochs borrowed $250 from his family to purchase a controlling interest in theChattanooga Times, becoming its publisher.

The following year, he founded a commercial paper that he calledThe Tradesman. He was one of the founders of the Southern Associated Press and served as president.

In 1896, at the age of 38, he was advised byThe New York Times reporterHenry Alloway that the paper could be bought at a greatly reduced price due to its financial losses and wide range of competitors inNew York City.^[6][7]

After borrowing money to purchase theTimes for $75,000,^[8] Ochs formedThe New York Times Company, placed the paper on a strong financial foundation, and became the majority stockholder.^[1]

In 1904, Ochs hiredCarr Van Anda as his managing editor. They focused onobjective journalism at a time when newspapers were openly and highly partisan. They also decreased the newspaper's cost from 3 cents per issue to 1 cent, which led to the newspaper's survival. The newspaper's readership increased from 9,000 at the time of his purchase to 780,000 by the 1920s. He also added theTimes' well-knownmasthead motto: "All the News That's Fit to Print".^[2]

In 1904, Ochs movedThe New York Times to a newly built building onLongacre Square inManhattan, which the City of New York then renamed asTimes Square.

On New Year's Eve 1904, Ochs had pyrotechnists illuminate his new building atOne Times Square with a fireworks show from street level.^[7][9][10]

Beginning with 1896, there was issued weekly a supplement, eventually calledThe New York Times Book Review and Magazine. Other auxiliary publications were incrementally added, includingThe Annalist, a financial review appearing on Mondays,The Times Mid-Week Pictorial on Thursdays,Current History Magazine, a monthly, started duringWorld War I,The New York Times Index, started in 1913, published quarterly, and comparable only to theIndex, published byThe Times in London.^[1]

On August 18, 1921, the 25th anniversary of reorganization,The New York Times employed 1,885 people. It was classified as anindependent Democratic publication, and consistently opposedWilliam Jennings Bryan in his presidential campaigns. By its fairness in the presentation of news, editorial moderation and ample foreign service, it secured a high place in American journalism, becoming widely read and influential throughout the United States.^[1]

In 1901, Ochs became proprietor and editor of the PhiladelphiaTimes, which was later merged into the PhiladelphiaPublic Ledger. Ochs was the sole owner of thePhiladelphia-based newspaper from 1902 to 1912, when he sold it toCyrus H. K. Curtis.^[1]

According to Wolfgang Disch,^{[note 1]}

In 1916, Ochs communicated one of his most famous quotes, saying, "I affirm that more than 50% of money spent on advertising is squandered and is a sheer waste of printers' ink." The quote might be the origin of the common marketing saying, "I know half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, but I can never find out which half", a quote that has been attributed toJohn Wanamaker.^[12]

Ochs was elected to theAmerican Philosophical Society in 1931.^[13]

In 1884, Ochs married Effie Wise, a daughter ofRabbiIsaac Mayer Wise ofCincinnati, who was the leading exponent ofReform Judaism in the United States, and the founder ofHebrew Union College.^[14][15]

In 1928, Ochs built theMizpah Congregation Temple inChattanooga, Tennessee in memory of his parents, Julius and Bertha Ochs.^[16] The Georgian colonial building was designated as a Tennessee Historical Preservation Site in 1979.^[17]

Ochs foughtanti-Semitism during his career. He was active in the early years of theAnti-Defamation League, where he served as an executive board member, and used his influence as publisher ofThe New York Times to convince other newspapers nationwide to cease the unjustified caricaturing and lampooning ofJews in the American media.

Ochs was an opponent of aJewish state inPalestine.^[18]

Ochs was the uncle ofWorld War IIMajor generalJulius Ochs Adler.

Ochs died on April 8, 1935, during a visit toChattanooga, Tennessee.^[19] He is buried at the Temple Israel Cemetery inHastings-on-Hudson inWestchester County, New York.^[3][20]

Ochs' daughter, Iphigene Bertha Ochs, marriedArthur Hays Sulzberger, who became publisher ofThe New York Times following his death. Her son-in-law,Orvil Dryfoos, was publisher ofThe New York Times from 1961 to 1963, and he was succeeded by her son,Arthur Ochs Sulzberger. Her daughter, Ruth Holmberg, became publisher ofThe Chattanooga Times. Ruth Holmberg's son,Arthur Golden, authoredMemoirs of a Geisha.Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. served as publisher ofThe New York Times from 1992 until 2017, when he was succeeded by his own son,A. G. Sulzberger.^[21]

One of Ochs's nephews,Julius Ochs Adler, worked atThe New York Times for more than 40 years, becoming general manager in 1935, after Ochs died. Another nephew,John Bertram Oakes, the son of his brotherGeorge Washington Ochs Oakes, in 1961 became editor of its editorial page, a position he held until 1976. Ochs was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1982. Another nephew, Adolph Shelby Ochs, was treasurer and a director ofThe Chattanooga Times. He was married to Mrs. Theodosia Fitzgerald Gray ofDanville, Virginia, granddaughter of Dan River Inc. founder T.B. Fitzgerald, niece of Wachovia Bank founder James Alexander Gray and cousin of Bowman Gray Sr., former president and chairman of R. J. Reynolds.

Citations

Further reading

• Tifft, Susan E. and Jones, Alex S. (1999)The Trust: The Private and Powerful Family Behind The New York Times. New York: Little, Brown and CompanyISBN 9780316845465
• "History of the ADL: 1913-1920 ADL - In Retrospect: 'Hang the Jew, Hang the Jew'

Wikimedia Commons has media related toAdolph Ochs.

Wikisource has the text of the 1921Collier's Encyclopedia articleOchs, Adolph S..

• "Adolph Ochs",Immigrant Entrepreneurship, 2012
• Obituary,NY Times, April 9, 1935, "Adolph S. Ochs Dead at 77; Publisher of Times Since 1896"
• Jewish Virtual Library - Adolph Ochs
• Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture article
• Article in FAIR by John L. Hess assessing career
•  "Ochs, Adolph S." .The Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1918. pp. 530–532.
• Adolph S. Ochs papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library.
• Newspaper clippings about Adolph Ochs in the20th Century Press Archives of theZBW

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