Condé Nast CEO Bob Sauerberg to step down
Publisher says Condé Nast and Condé Nast International will combine Bob Sauerberg will stay on in his role until the appointment of his successor.
Condé Nast said Chief Executive Bob Sauerberg is stepping down, just months after he outlined an ambitious plan to return the magazine publisher to profitability by 2020.
Mr. Sauerberg will stay on in his role until the appointment of his successor, who will oversee both Condé Nast and Condé Nast International in the newly created role of global chief executive.
The two companies had previously operated independently with their own CEOs, senior teams and publications, which include Vanity Fair, Vogue and the New Yorker in the U.S., and Vogue Paris and British GQ overseas.
Steve Newhouse, chairman of Advance.net, the digital arm of Condé Nast parent Advance Publications Inc., said the time was right to combine the U.S. and international businesses. As Condé Nast started implementing Mr. Sauerberg’s turnaround plan, “We began to see that the structure we had was holding us back,” Mr. Newhouse said in an interview. He said the combined entity was looking for a new leader who had global experience.
Unifying the two businesses under one chief executive will enable the company to streamline its corporate structure, reduce costs, and make it simpler for advertisers to access all of Condé Nast publications, the company said.
Condé Nast is sticking with Mr. Sauerberg’s turnaround plan, the company said. When Mr. Sauerberg announced the plan in August, he warned there could be painful layoffs ahead.
“This isn’t about layoffs,” said Jonathan Newhouse, chief executive of Condé Nast International and another member of the Newhouse family. “It’s about investing with a more intelligent approach.” He will become chairman of the combined company.
Mr. Sauerberg declined to comment through a spokesman. Condé Nast said he would keep representing Advance Publications on the board of social-media platform Reddit, which Condé Nast spun off in 2011.
Advance Publications, a closely held media and tech concern owned by the Newhouse family, also owns stakes in Charter Communications Inc. and Discovery Inc.
Condé Nast’s new global chief executive will operate from New York, but Condé Nast will maintain a major hub in London, the company said.
Mr. Sauerberg’s plan would make Condé Nast less dependent on advertising and focus on such areas as video, consulting services, and business-to-business marketing.
He also said the company would focus on core brands and put several titles up for sale.
The publisher is expected to report a loss for 2018 on declining revenue.
Condé Nast in August also moved to combine the U.S. and U.K. staffs of Condé Nast Traveler into one team headed by Melinda Stevens, the editor in chief of the U.K. edition.
At the time, Condé Nast described the move as “the first title collaboration between the two divisions of the company and kicks off several new initiatives set to launch between Condé Nast and Condé Nast International.” Jonathan Newhouse said there were no plans to merge staffs of other magazines beyond Condé Nast Traveler at this point.
This has been a challenging period for most major publishers, which are facing declining circulation and stiff competition for ad dollars, while new initiatives—from subscription paywalls and TV licensing to online video—haven’t grown fast enough. These challenges have prompted a wave of consolida- tion. Within the past year or so, Meredith Corp. purchased Time Inc., then sold several titles including Time magazine and Fortune; Penske Media bought a controlling stake in Rolling Stone-parent Wenner Media; and Hearst Magazines acquired Rodale Inc., publisher of Men’s Health and Prevention. New York Media, the owner of New York magazine and several websites, is exploring options, including a possible sale, The Wall Street Journal reported in August.
Mr. Sauerberg joined Condé Nast in 2005 as executive vice president of consumer marketing and was named president in 2010. He became CEO in January 2016. His single biggest bet was launching Condé Nast Entertainment, which creates digital video, long-form TV, and movies.
Condé Nast is currently in the process of selling W, Brides and Golf Digest, although it is possible the company will retain an interest in the golf publication. Last week, Condé Nast said that Glamour would become primarily a digital publication starting in January.
Also last week, Condé Nast Entertainment named Oren Katzeff as president, succeeding Dawn Ostroff, who this summer joined the musicstreaming service Spotify Technology SA as chief content officer. A number of key Condé Nast executives have departed this year in addition to Ms. Ostroff, among them Fred Santarpia, Condé Nast’s former chief digital officer; Phillip Picardi, the former chief content officer of Teen Vogue, and Josh Stinchcomb, Condé Nast’s former chief experience officer who is today chief revenue officer at Dow Jones, publisher of the Journal.