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 Final logo bySiegel+Gale used from 1986 to 2018. | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| NYSE: TIME (until 1990, 2014-2018) | |
| Industry | |
| Founded | November 28, 1922; 102 years ago (1922-11-28) June 6, 2014; 11 years ago (2014-06-06) (Spin-off) |
| Founders | Henry Luce Briton Hadden |
| Defunct | January 31, 2018; 7 years ago (2018-01-31) (Spin-off) |
| Fate | Merged withWarner Communications to form Time Warner; later spun-off and acquired byMeredith Corporation which eventually merged with Dotdash to formDotdash Meredith in 2021 |
| Successors | Dotdash Meredith Warner Bros. Discovery |
| Headquarters | 225 Liberty Street,, U.S. |
Key people | Joseph A. Ripp (executive chairman) Rich Battista (president andCEO) |
| Revenue |  US$3.1 billion (2015) |
| −US$823 million (2015) | |
| −US$881 million (2015) | |
| Total assets | US$4.8 billion (2015) |
| Total equity | US$1.8 billion (2015) |
| Owner | Time Warner (1990-2014) |
Number of employees | 7,200 (2016) |
| Divisions |
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| Subsidiaries |
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| Footnotes / references [1][2][3][4] | |
Time Inc. (also referred to asTime & Life, Inc. later on, after their two onetime flagship magazine publications) was an American worldwidemass media corporation founded on November 28, 1922, byHenry Luce andBriton Hadden and based inNew York City. It owned and published over 100 magazine brands, including its namesakeTime,Sports Illustrated,Travel + Leisure,Food & Wine,Fortune,People,InStyle,Life,Golf Magazine,Southern Living,Essence,Real Simple, andEntertainment Weekly. It also had subsidiaries which it co-operated with the UK magazine house Time Inc. UK (which was later sold and since has been rebranded toTI Media), whose major titles includeWhat's on TV,NME,Country Life, andWallpaper. Time Inc. also co-operated over 60 websites and digital-only titles includingMyRecipes,Extra Crispy,TheSnug,HelloGiggles, andMIMI.[5]
In 1990, Time Inc. merged withWarner Communications to form the media conglomerateTime Warner (nowWarner Bros. Discovery) with Time Inc. continuing as a subsidiary. In 2014, in order to focus on their three entertainment divisions:Warner Bros.,Turner andHBO, Time Warner spun-off Time Inc. as a public company trading on theNew York Stock Exchange. In 2018, media companyMeredith Corporation acquired Time Inc. for $2.8 billion.[6][7] Meredith was then acquired byIAC and merged with Dotdash to formDotdash Meredith three years later, thus resulting in IAC gaining most of the former Time Inc. assets.
Nightly discussions of the concept of a news magazine led its foundersHenry Luce andBriton Hadden, both age 23, to quit their jobs in 1922. Later that same year, they formed Time Inc. Having raised $86,000 of a $100,000 goal, the first issue ofTime was published on March 3, 1923, as the first weekly news magazine in the United States.[8] Luce served as business manager while Hadden was editor-in-chief. Luce and Hadden annually alternated year-to-year the titles of president and secretary-treasurer. Upon Hadden's sudden death in 1929, Luce assumed Hadden's position.
Luce launched the business magazineFortune in February 1930 and created/founded the pictorialLife magazine in 1936, and launchedHouse & Home in 1952 andSports Illustrated in 1954. He also producedThe March of Timeradio and newsreel series. By the mid-1960s, Time Inc. was the largest and most prestigious magazine publisher in the world. (Dwight Macdonald, aFortune staffer during the 1930s, referred to him as "Il Luce", a play on the Italian dictatorBenito Mussolini, who was called "Il Duce".) Once ambitious to becomeSecretary of State in a Republican administration, Luce wrote a famous article inLife magazine in 1941, called "The American Century", which defined the role of American foreign policy for the remainder of the 20th century, and perhaps beyond.[9]
PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt, aware that most publishers were opposed to him, issued a decree in 1943 that blocked all publishers and media executives from visits to combat areas; he put GeneralGeorge Marshall in charge of enforcement. The main target was Luce, who had long opposed FDR. HistorianAlan Brinkley argues the move was "badly mistaken", for had Luce been allowed to travel, he would have been an enthusiastic cheerleader for American forces around the globe. But stranded in New York City, Luce's frustration and anger expressed itself in hard-edged partisanship.[10] Luce, supported by EditorT. S. Matthews, appointedWhittaker Chambers as acting Foreign News editor in 1944, despite the feuds Chambers had with reporters in the field.[11]
In the 1950s, the Time Inc. executive Brumbaugh made presentations to the Post Office Department to explain how Time Inc. was using a zoning system to speed the delivery of its magazines. Although the Post Office Department had instigated zones in 1943, they were inconsistently applied. As cited in FYI, Time Inc.'s internal newsletter"'Fewer than 40% of the cities were properly zoned,' he recalls. 'I went to the Post Office Department and showed them how we were making the zone system work.'" In 1963, theUnited States Post Office introducedZIP codes.[12]
Luce, who remained editor-in-chief of all his publications until 1964, maintained a position as an influential member of theRepublican Party.[9] Holdinganti-communist sentiments, he usedTime to support right-wing dictatorships in the name of fighting communism. An instrumental figure behind the so-called "China Lobby", he played a large role in steering American foreign policy and popular sentiment in favor ofNationalist leaderChiang Kai-shek and his wifeSoong Mei-ling in their war against the Japanese. (The Chiangs appeared in the cover ofTime eleven times between 1927 and 1955.[13]
In 1961, Time Inc. entered the book publishing business that combined the resources of their magazines with the formation ofTime Life (it later became the holding company for television and radio stations and had a film production division,Time Life Films and a record label). Time Inc. later acquiredBoston-basedLittle, Brown and Company (later integrated into Time Warner Book Group following its merger with Warner Books, now known as theHachette Book Group since its 2006 acquisition byHachette Livre) for $17 million in January 1968.[14][15]
Time Inc. also owned pioneering cable networkHome Box Office (HBO).[16]
In 1974, Time Inc. launched the celebrity-focused magazinePeople.
In February 1985, Time Inc. announced that it would acquire theBirmingham, Alabama-based Southern Progress Corporation, publishers of theSouthern Living magazine for $480 million.[17][18]
In 1987, Time Inc. and Robin Wolaner launched the parent-focused magazineParenting (Time Inc. later purchased the remaining stake in the magazine held by Wolaner on January 5, 1990, several days before the completion of merger with Warner Communications)[19]
In 1987, Time Inc. lost its ownership stake in theUSA Network, which it held since 1981.[16] The merger of Time Inc. andWarner Communications was announced on March 4, 1989.[20] During the summer of that same year,Paramount Communications (formerlyGulf and Western Industries) launched a $12.2 billionhostile bid to acquire Time Inc. in an attempt to end astock swap merger deal between Time and Warner Communications. This caused Time to raise its bid for Warner to $14.9 billion in cash and stock. Paramount responded by filing a lawsuit in a Delaware court to block the Time/Warner merger. The court ruled twice in favor of Time, forcing Paramount to drop both the Time acquisition and the lawsuit, and allowing the formation of the two companies' merger which was completed on January 10, 1990. Effectively, Time took over Warner, resulting in a new corporate structure and the new combined company being called "Time Warner" with Time remaining as a subsidiary of said company.[21][22]
In November 1990, Time Inc. announced that it would acquire the remaining stake in Hippocrates Partners (Time earlier purchased its 50% stake in July 1988).[23]
ThePathfinder website was launched in 1994, with content from the Time, People and Fortune magazines. It was shut down in 1999.[24]
On October 20, 2000, Time Inc. announced that it would acquire the magazine division ofTimes Mirror Company that includesField & Stream,Golf Magazine,Outdoor Life,Popular Science,Skiing andYachting from theTribune Company for $475 million, the merger was subsequently completed in November of that year, forming Time4Media (the magazines in the division, with the exception ofGolf Magazine and the Parenting Group were sold toBonnier Group in 2007)[25][26]
In January 2005, Time Inc. announced that it would purchase a remaining stake in New York City-based Essence Communications, publishers of theEssence magazine that it not already own. (Time already purchased 49% stake in the magazine in 2000)[27]
In 2008, Time Inc. launchedMaghound, an internet-based magazine membership service that featured approximately 300 magazine titles from both Time Inc. brands and external publishing companies.[28] On January 19, 2010, Time Inc. acquired StyleFeeder, a personal shopping engine.[29]
In August 2010, Time Inc. announced thatAnn S. Moore, its chairman and chief executive, would step down as CEO and be replaced byJack Griffin, an executive withMeredith Corporation, the nation's second-largest publisher of consumer magazines.[30] In September 2010, Time Inc. entered into a licensing agreement withKolkata-basedABP Group, one of India's largest media conglomerates, to publishFortune India magazine and the yearlyFortune India 500 list.[31] Griffin was ousted after a brief tenure, eventually being replaced by Laura Lang, who served about a year.[32][33]
On March 6, 2013, Time Warner announced plans tospin off Time Inc. into a publicly traded company.[34]Time Warner's chairman/CEOJeff Bewkes said that the split would allow Time Warner to focus entirely on its television and film businesses, and Time Inc. to focus on its core print media businesses.[35] It was announced in May 2014 that Time Inc. would become apublicly traded company on June 6 of that year.[36] The spin-off was completed on June 9, 2014.[37] As of September 13, 2016, Rich Battista was promoted to president and CEO, replacing Joseph A. Ripp.
Time Inc. purchasedAmerican Express Publishing Corporation's suite of titles, includingTravel + Leisure,Food & Wine,Departures,Black Ink andExecutive Travel on October 1, 2013.[38] On January 14, 2014, Time Inc. announced that Colin Bodell was joining the company in the newly created position of executive vice president and chief technology officer.[39] However, he was let go May 19, 2016[40] On February 5, 2014, Time Inc. announced that it was cutting 500 jobs[41] with most of the layoffs at American Express Publishing.[34] From April 2014 to mid-2017, the Chairman of Time Inc. was Joseph A. Ripp, who had been Chief Executive since September 2013 and continued as Executive Chairman when replaced as CEO by Battista.[42][43] Though Ripp had intended to remain Executive Chairman until 2018,[44] he wound up leaving the board in 2017 andJohn Fahey served as non-executive chairman for the months prior to the company's sale to Meredith.[45] On May 28, 2015, Time Inc. announced the purchase of entertainment and sports news siteFanSided.[46][47] In July 2015,Time Inc. acquired League Athletics inTucson, SportsSignup inSaratoga Springs, and iScore inLos Alamitos.[48][49] The three companies will be a part of Sports Illustrated Play.[50][51]
After attempting a few TV shows in 2014 and 2015, the company formed Time Inc. Productions in 2016 as its in-house production company.[52] On February 11, 2016, Time Inc. announced that it has acquired Viant, a leading people based marketing platform and owner ofMySpace.[53] With the purchase of Time Warner by AT&T, it was agreed that Time Warner television assets such as HBO also came under the AT&T umbrella;[54] afterWarnerMedia spun off from AT&T in 2021, these assets came under the fold ofWarner Bros. Discovery.[55][56]
In February 2017, it was reported thatMeredith Corporation and a group of investors led byEdgar Bronfman Jr. were considering purchasing Time Inc.[57] In 2016, Time Inc. acquiredBizrate Insights.[58] On April 28, 2017, the company's board of directors dropped the plan of selling the company and instead focus on growth strategies.[59]
On November 26, 2017, it was announced that Meredith Corporation would acquire Time Inc. in a $2.8 billion deal. $640 million in backing will be provided byKoch Equity Development, but the Koch family will not have a board seat or otherwise influence the company's operations.[60][61] Prior to the sale closing in January 2018, Time Inc. soldEssence Communications to Richelieu Dennis, the founder of hair- and skin-care products maker Sundial Brands.[62] In January 2018, Meredith removed signage and references to Time, Inc., and Time, Inc. website was redirected to the Meredith's website.[63]
In March 2018, only six weeks after the closure of the deal, Meredith announced that it would lay off 1,200 employees, and explore the sale ofTime,Fortune,Money, andSports Illustrated. The company felt that these brands did not align with its core, lifestyle-oriented properties.[64]
Howard Milstein had announced on February 7, 2018, that he would acquireGolf Magazine from Meredith,[65] and Time Inc. UK was sold to the British private equity group Epiris (later rebranded toTI Media) in late February.[66] In September 2018, Meredith announced that it would re-sellTime toMarc Benioff and his wife Lynne for $190 million. Although Benioff is the chairman and co-CEO ofSalesforce.com,Time will remain separate from the company, and Benioff will not be involved in its daily operations.[67] In November 2018, Meredith announced to sellFortune to Thai businessman Chatchaval Jiaravanon for $150 million.[68][69] In December 2021, Meredith was acquired by IAC's Dotdash and becameDotdash Meredith;[70][71]Barry Diller, the head of IAC,[71] had previous relations with Time Inc. in the early 1980s when he was head of Paramount and helped make Time Inc. at one point a co-owner of theUSA Network.[16]
Time's offices were originally in theChrysler Building. In 1938, they moved to the seven upper floors of the newly built1 Rockefeller Plaza inRockefeller Center.[72] In 1960, they moved to fifteen floors of a new building, also inRockefeller Center,1271 Avenue of the Americas.[73]Time rented additional offices in the adjacent 135 West 50th Street building. In 2014,Time moved toBrookfield Place inlower Manhattan,[74][75] where it remained until its ultimate demise four years later.
When they were being built, both the Rockefeller Plaza and Avenue of the Americas buildings were given the name "Time & Life Building" at the time after their main soon-to-be tenant, but also lost it when that tenant moved elsewhere. This incidentally, did not apply to their 153 New Bond Street, London W1Y0AA UK premises; it too was baptized "Time & Life Building" when it was built in 1951–53 as the then-European headquarters of "Time & Life International, Ltd.", but contrary to its New York City counterparts, it kept the name after the company had vacated the premises in late-August 2009.[76]
In the early years, when the company was justTime magazine, Luce served as business manager while Hadden was editor-in-chief, and they annually alternated the positions of president and secretary-treasurer. On Hadden's sudden death in 1929 Luce took his position and business management was entrusted toRoy E. Larsen, who had been one of their first hires. Luce cultivated a philosophy of "church and state", where the editorial and business management were separate up to the board of directors level. (This was functionally ended with the departure of McManus from the Time Warner board, and formally by Ripp in 2013).[77]
McManus left the board of what had become Time Warner shortly before retiring,[78] and his replacementNorman Pearlstine and successorsJohn Huey (2006–2012) and Martha Nelson (2013) were never directors of the parent. The title was then abolished.
Linen became chairman of the executive committee for a time after serving as president, then was succeeded by Shepley, who retained that position for a time after he, in turn, stepped down as president.
Davidson also served as chairman of the executive committee after stepping down as chairman of the board.Munro was chairman of the executive committee of Time Warner from 1990 to 1996.
On the merger withWarner Communications Munro and then Nicholas were co-CEOs of Time Warner withSteve Ross until 1992 when Ross squeezed Nicholas out.[82]Gerald M. Levin, who had come up through Time's non-publishing operations, succeeded Ross later that year and in 2002 was succeeded byRichard Parsons who had never been connected to legacy Time Inc. (his successorJeff Bewkes, leader of the parent when Time Inc. was spun off, had like Levin come from the non-publishing operations).
The Time, Inc. (the comma remained part of the formal title until the Warner merger but the company ceased to use it in 1933)[83] corporate entity diversified out of publishing in the 1970s and 1980s, purchasing what was later spun off asTemple-Inland paper company and various broadcasting and cable television operations such asHBO and what becameTime Warner Cable. As the distinction between the overall corporation and the magazine operation grew, the position that had been "Group Vice President, Magazines" or "Executive Vice President, Magazines" became president and chief executive of a "magazine group" in 1985[84] (under Kelso F. Sutton to 1986, and then Reginald K. Brack Jr.)[85] and then became president and CEO of a newly incorporated subsidiary,"The Time Inc. Magazine Company" in 1988[86] (initially with John A. Meyers as chairman). In 1992, Time Warner reorganized so that the non-magazine parts of Time Inc. came directly under the parent and the Time Inc. name was downgraded to only include the magazine company, so the officers of the "Magazine Company" became the officers of what was now Time Inc. Later that year, CEO Brack shifted to chairman withDon Logan as president; he stepped down in favor of Logan as CEO in 1994 and chairman in 1997.[87] Logan moved up to a group oversight position including additional Time Warner operations in 2002 (Ann S. Moore succeeding him at the magazine operation) and left the company in 2005. Leaders after Moore are noted above.
| International | |
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| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |
