Condé Nast

This article is about the media company. For the founder, see Condé Montrose Nast. For other uses, see Condé Nast (disambiguation).

Condé Nast (/ˌkɒndeɪˈnæst/) is a global mass media company founded in 1909 by Condé Montrose Nast (1873–1942) and owned by Advance Publications.^[1] Its headquarters are located at One World Trade Center in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan.

Condé Nast

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Mass media
Founded	1909; 115 years ago (1909)
Founder	Condé Montrose Nast
Headquarters	One World Trade Center New York City 10007 U.S.
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Roger Lynch (Chief executive officer) Anna Wintour (Artistic Director, Global Chief Content Officer)
Products	Magazines
Parent	Advance Publications
Subsidiaries	Condé Nast Entertainment Pitchfork Edições Globo Condé Nast (30%)
Website	condenast.com

The company's media brands attract more than 72 million consumers in print, 394 million in digital and 454 million across social media platforms. These include Vogue, The New Yorker, Condé Nast Traveler, GQ, Glamour, Architectural Digest, Vanity Fair, Pitchfork, Wired, and Bon Appétit, among many others. US Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour serves as Artistic Director and Global Chief Content Officer. In 2011, the company launched the Condé Nast Entertainment division, tasked with developing film, television, social and digital video, and virtual reality content.

History

 

One World Trade Center, the Manhattan headquarters of the company

The company traces its roots to 1909, when Condé Montrose Nast, a New York City–born publisher, purchased Vogue, a printed magazine launched in 1892 as a New York weekly journal of society and fashion news.^[2]

Nast initially published the magazine under the corporate name Vogue Company. In 1922, he incorporated Condé Nast Publications as the holding company for his interests.^[3] Nast had a flair for nurturing elite readers as well as advertisers and upgraded Vogue, sending the magazine on its path of becoming a top haute couture fashion authority. Eventually, Nast's portfolio expanded to include House & Garden, Vanity Fair (briefly known as Dress and Vanity Fair), Glamour, and American Golfer, published from 1908 to 1920.^[4] The company also introduced British Vogue in 1916, and Condé Nast became the first publisher of an overseas edition of an existing magazine.

Condé Nast is largely considered to be the originator of the "class publication", a type of magazine focused on a particular social group or interest instead of targeting the largest possible readership.^[5] Its magazines focus on a wide range of subjects, including travel, food, home, and culture, with fashion the larger portion of the company's focus.

Nast opened a printing facility in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, in 1924 but closed in 1964 to make way for more centrally located sites capable of producing higher volumes.^[6][7] During the Great Depression, Condé Nast introduced innovative typography, design, and color. Vogue's first full color photograph by Edward Steichen was featured on the cover in 1932, marking the year when Condé Nast began replacing fashion drawings on covers with photo illustrations―an innovative move at the time.^[8] Glamour, launched in 1939, was the last magazine personally introduced to the company by Nast, who died in 1942.^[9] The Nast family connection to the publishing business remained, with Nast's son Charles Coudert Nast serving as the company's longtime general counsel.^[10]

In 1959, Samuel I. Newhouse bought Condé Nast for US$5 million as an anniversary gift for his wife Mitzi, who loved Vogue.^[11] He merged it with the privately held holding company Advance Publications. His son, S. I. Newhouse, Jr., known as "Si", became chairman of Condé Nast in 1975.^[12]

Under Newhouse, Condé Nast acquired Brides in 1959,^[13] revived Vanity Fair in 1983 after it was shuttered in 1936,^[14] and launched the new publication Self in 1979.^[15]

2000–2009

At the outset of the new millennium in January 2000, Condé Nast moved from 350 Madison Avenue to 4 Times Square.^[16] The move was viewed as a significant catalyst for the redevelopment of Times Square.^[17] In the same year, Condé Nast purchased Fairchild Publications^[18] (now known as Fairchild Fashion Media), home to W and WWD, from the Walt Disney Company. In 2001, Condé Nast bought Golf Digest and Golf World from The New York Times Company for US$435 million.^[19] On October 31, 2006, Condé Nast acquired the content aggregation site Reddit,^[20] later on spun off as a wholly owned subsidiary of Condé Nast's parent company in September 2011.

The company folded the women's magazine Jane with its August issue in 2007, and later shut down its website.^[21] One of Condé Nast's oldest titles, the American edition of House and Garden, ceased publication after the December 2007 issue.^[22] Portfolio, Mademoiselle and Domino were folded as well. On May 20, 2008, the company announced its acquisition of a popular technology-oriented website, Ars Technica.

On October 5, 2009, Condé Nast announced the closure of three of its publications: Cookie, Modern Bride, and Elegant Bride.^[23] Gourmet ceased monthly publication with its November 2009 issue; the Gourmet brand was later resurrected as "Gourmet Live", an iPad app that delivers new editorial content in the form of recipes, interviews, stories, and videos. In print, Gourmet continues in the form of special editions on newsstands and cookbooks.

On February 18, 2009 Condé Nast announced the launch of Love magazine, a bi-annual British style magazine founded by fashion journalist Katie Grand. In 2020, Grand announced her departure and was replaced by Whembley Sewell.^{[citation needed]}

2010–present

In July 2010, Robert Sauerberg became Condé Nast's president. In May 2011, the company was the first major publisher to deliver subscriptions for the iPad, starting with The New Yorker; the company has since rolled out iPad subscriptions for nine of its titles. In the same month, Next Issue Media, a joint venture formed by five U.S. publishers including Condé Nast, announced subscriptions for Android devices, initially available for the Samsung Galaxy Tab.^[24]

In September 2011, Condé Nast said it would offer 17 of its brands to the Kindle Fire.^[25] The company launched Conde Nast Entertainment in 2011 to develop film, television, and digital video programming. In May 2013, CNÉ's Digital Video Network debuted, featuring web series for such publications as Glamour and GQ.^[26] Wired joined the Digital Video Network with the announcement of five original web series including the National Security Agency satire Codefellas and the animated advice series Mister Know-It-All.^[27][28]

In October 2013, the company ended its internship program after being sued by two former interns claiming they had been paid less than minimum wage for summer internships there.^[29][30] In November 2014, the company moved into One World Trade Center in Manhattan, where its headquarters are now located.^[31] On September 14, 2015, the company announced Sauerberg as its new CEO, with former CEO Charles H. Townsend taking the role of Chairman, and S. I. Newhouse Jr. taking the role of Chairman Emeritus in January 2016.^[32] On October 13, 2015, Condé Nast announced that it had acquired Pitchfork.^[33]

In July 2016, the company announced the launch of Condé Nast Spire, a new division of the company focusing on consumer purchasing data and content consumption through the company's own first-party behavioral data.^[34] The Chairman of the company, Charles Townsend, retired at the end of 2016,^[35] and the Chairman Emeritus Newhouse died the following October.^[36]

In March 2018, Condé Nast announced the launch of the influencer-based platform Next Gen.^[37] The company's Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer, Pamela Drucker Mann, stated that the platform would feature both "in-house and external talent with significant and meaningful social followings". In April 2019, Condé Nast appointed the former CEO of Pandora Media, Roger Lynch, as the company's first global CEO.^[why?] It also sold the magazine Brides to the digital media company Dotdash, and in May of the same year, announced the sale of Golf Digest to Discovery, Inc.^[38] In June of the same year, Condé Nast sold W to a new holding company, Future Media Group.^[39] W editor Stefano Tonchi later sued the company for wrongful termination, with Condé Nast suing Tonchi in response, seeking the return of "all monies paid to [Tonchi] during his period of disloyalty", claiming that he had acted as a "faithless servant" during the sale of W, and had interfered with the sale to benefit himself.^[40]

Roger Lynch was appointed chief executive officer in April 2019, and in October 2019, announced plans to increase Condé Nast's revenue from readers.^[41][42]

In June 2020, following the global outbreak of the coronavirus COVID-19, it was reported that Condé Nast had experienced a drop in advertising revenues of 45% as a result of the pandemic. It was also reported that the company had, in previous years, sublet six of the company's 23 floors in the One World Trade Center, following the cancellation of a number of its publishing titles.^[43]

In November 2023, the company announced it would be cutting about 5 percent of its workforce which would impact approximately 270 employees. Some of the reasons given for this are pressures from digital advertising, decreasing social media traffic, and shifting audience preferences towards short-form video content on platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts.^[44]

In January 2024, union members from the company's publications set a strike for 24 hours aligned with the announcement of 96th Academy Awards nominees claiming that the company was "engaging in regressive bargaining and breaking the law in bargaining by rescinding an offer that they had previously made around layoffs".^[45] Anne Hathaway walked out of a Vanity Fair photo shoot the same day, January 23, in solidarity with the union.^[46]

Current US publications and digital assets

Print

• Architectural Digest
• Bon Appétit
• Condé Nast Traveler
• GQ
• Love
• The New Yorker
• Vanity Fair
• Vogue
• Wired

Digital

• Allure
• Ars Technica
• Backchannel
• Epicurious
• Glamour
• Pitchfork
• them.
• Teen Vogue
• Self
• La Cucina Italiana

Defunct publications

• American Golfer
• Cargo
• Cookie
• Details
• Elegant Bride
• Golf for Women
• Golf Digest
• Gourmet
• Jane
• Lucky
• Mademoiselle
• Men's Vogue
• Modern Bride
• NowManifest (blog)
• Portfolio Magazine
• Style.com
• Swoon.com^[47]
• Vitals Men
• Vitals Women
• World of Hibernia ^[48][49]
• WomenSports
• YM

Mergers and acquisitions

Acquisitions

Date	Company	Business	Country	Value (USD)	References
December 30, 1987	Signature Magazine^[note 1]	Magazine	United States	—	^[50]
November 30, 1988	Woman^[note 2]	Magazine	United States	$10,000,000	^[51]
June 25, 1990	Cook's^[note 3]	Magazines	United States	—	^[52]
April 22, 1992	K-III Magazines-Magazine Sub^[note 4]	Subscriber lists	United States	—	^[53]
April 20, 1993	Knapp Communications	Magazines	United States	$175,000,000	^[54]
June 12, 1998	Wired Magazine^[note 5]	Magazines	United States	$90,000,000	^[55]
January 8, 2000	Fairchild Publications^[note 6]	Magazines and newspapers	United States	$650,000,000	^[56]
September 5, 2001	Johansens ^[note 7]	Accommodation guides	United States	—	^[57]
February 28, 2002	Modern Bride Group^[note 8]	Magazines	United States	$52,000,000	^[58]
March 28, 2002	Ideas Publishing Group^[note 9]	Publishing	United States	—	^[59]
July 11, 2006	Lycos Inc-Wired News^[note 10]	Online news	United States	$25,000,000	^[60]
July 20, 2006	Nutrition Data	Internet service provider	United States	—	^[61]
October 31, 2006	Reddit	Social news	United States	—	^[62]
April 23, 2008	SFO*Media	Web sites	United States	—	^[63]
May 20, 2008	Ars Technica	Web sites	United States	—	^[64]
April 11, 2012	ZipList	Web sites & Mobile Apps	United States	$14,000,000	^[65]
October 13, 2015	Pitchfork	Web sites	United States	—	^[33]

Stakes

Date	Company	Business	Country	Value (USD)	References
November 29, 1988	Wagadon^[note 11]	Magazines	United States	—	^[66]
January 19, 1994	Wired Magazine	Magazines	United States	—	^[67]
January 17, 2001	Ideas Publishing Group^[note 12]	Publishing	United States	—	^[68]

See also

• Genwi (2011) launch of Condé Nast's "The Daily W" app

Notes

1. Citicorp-Signature Magazine was acquired from Citigroup.
2. Harris Publications-Woman was acquired from Harris Publications.
3. Pennington Publishing-Cook's was acquired from Bonnier AB.
4. K-III Magazines-Magazine Sub was acquired from Primedia.
5. Wired Magazine was acquired from Telefonica.
6. Fairchild Publications was acquired from The Walt Disney Company.
7. Johansens, the parent company of Daily Mail, was acquired from Rothermere Investments.
8. Modern Bride Group was acquired from Primedia.
9. Ideas Publishing Group was acquired from Advance Publications.
10. Lycos Inc-Wired News was acquired from Telefonica.
11. Conde Nast Publications acquired a 40% interest in Wagadon.
12. Conde Nast Publications acquired a majority interest in Ideas Publishing Group.

References

1. "Advance Publications". Forbes. from the original on November 3, 2021. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
2. A Brief History of the Condé Nast Publications, New York: CNP, 1993.
3. Brown, Marianne (June 20, 2017). "Conde Nast −1040 Park Avenue Home, Work & Play". LinkedIn. from the original on November 3, 2021. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
4. "American Golfer Magazine 1908–1920". golfclubatlas.com. from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
5. . Library of Congress. November 9, 2010. Archived from the original on February 10, 2012. Retrieved November 2, 2011.
6. Merchant, Robert (December 14, 2015). "Effort afoot to restore Condé Nast pillars in Old Greenwich". Greenwich Time. Hearts CT Media. from the original on January 22, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
7. "Condé Nast Publications, Inc. History". Funding Universe. from the original on January 22, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
8. . NYTimes.com. December 3, 2006. Archived from the original on February 25, 2012. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
9. Sumner, David E. (2010). The Magazine Century: American Magazines Since 1900. Peter Lang. ISBN 9781433104930. from the original on March 3, 2018. Retrieved March 2, 2018.
10. "Charles C. Nast, 77, Dies; Ex-Chief of 42d Infantry". The New York Times. New York, NY. January 11, 1981. p. Section 1, Page 34. from the original on February 25, 2024. Retrieved February 25, 2024 – via TimesMachine.
11. Mahon, Gigi (September 10, 1989). "S.I. Newhouse and Conde Nast; Taking Off The White Gloves". The New York Times. from the original on October 26, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
12. "Si Newhouse of Advance Publications, Conde Nast dies at 89". al. Associated Press. October 1, 2017. from the original on October 1, 2019. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
13. Hsu, Tiffany (May 15, 2019). "Condé Nast Sells Brides Magazine to Barry Diller's Dotdash". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on October 1, 2019. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
14. Salmans, Sandra (February 6, 1983). "Courting the Elite at Conde Nast". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on August 4, 2017. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
15. Journal, Wendy BoundsStaff Reporter of The Wall Street (June 23, 1999). "Conde Nast's Udell to Step Down As Self Magazine's Editor in Fall". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. from the original on October 1, 2019. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
16. Bagli, Charles. . The New York Times. June 6, 1999. Archived from the original on November 16, 2012. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
17. Agovino, Theresa. . Crain's New York. June 6, 1999. Archived from the original on September 3, 2011. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
18. Kuczynski, Alex. . The New York Times. August 20, 1999. Archived from the original on March 10, 2013. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
19. Condé Nast Redesigns Its Future 2018-09-26 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, 26 October 2003
20. Arrington, Michael. "Breaking News: Condé Nast/Wired Acquires Reddit". TechCrunch. from the original on February 15, 2018. Retrieved March 2, 2018.
21. Pérez-Peña, Richard (July 10, 2007). "Condé Nast to Close Jane, Ending Effort at Revival". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
22. Elliott, Stuart; Pérez-Peña, Richard (November 6, 2007). "Publication to Cease for House & Garden". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
23. N; P; R (October 5, 2009). "Conde Nast Closing 'Gourmet', 3 Other Magazines". NPR. from the original on April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
24. Kaplan, David. . PaidContent. June 29, 2011. Archived from the original on September 14, 2011. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
25. Vranica, Suzanne. "Magazines Join With New Tablet Challenger". The Wall Street Journal. September 29, 2011. from the original on March 17, 2015. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
26. Tatiana Siegel (May 12, 2013). "Conde Nast Launches Digital Video Network – The Hollywood Reporter". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on May 20, 2013. Retrieved June 23, 2013.
27. Erik Hayden (May 15, 2013). "Conde Nast Entertainment Launches 'Wired' Video Channel". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on June 24, 2013. Retrieved June 23, 2013.
28. Erik Maza (May 2, 2013). "Condé Entertainment Previews Video Channels for Vogue, Wired and Vanity Fair". Women's Wear Daily. from the original on June 24, 2013. Retrieved June 23, 2013.
29. Buckley, Cara (October 23, 2013). "Sued Over Pay, Condé Nast Ends Internship Program". The New York Times. from the original on May 6, 2017. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
30. "Why Condé Nast Felt It Had To Stop Using Interns". Forbes. October 24, 2013. from the original on July 22, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
31. "Condé Nast Colonizes Lower Manhattan". The New York Times. September 30, 2015. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on March 3, 2018. Retrieved March 2, 2018.
32. Somaiya, Ravi (September 14, 2015). "Condé Nast Names Robert Sauerberg New C.E.O." The New York Times. from the original on September 17, 2015. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
33. Somaiya, Ravi (October 13, 2015). "Condé Nast Buys Pitchfork Media". The New York Times. from the original on October 8, 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
34. Emma Bazilian (July 26, 2016). "Condé Nast Is Connecting Media Consumption and Purchase Data to Improve Branded Content". Adweek. from the original on July 27, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
35. Steigrad, Alexandra (November 1, 2016). "Charles Townsend Retires from Condé Nast as Chairman". WWD. from the original on March 22, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
36. Kandell, Jonathan (October 1, 2017). "S.I. Newhouse Jr., Who Turned Condé Nast Into a Magazine Powerhouse, Dies at 89". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 1, 2017. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
37. "Condé Nast Influencer Platform: 'Journalism' for Cash?". Ikon London Magazine. March 2, 2018. from the original on May 24, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
38. Spangler, Todd (May 13, 2019). "Discovery Buys Golf Digest From Condé Nast for $30 Million". Variety. from the original on May 16, 2019. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
39. Hays, Kali (August 13, 2019). "Condé Nast Hits Back Hard at Stefano Tonchi's W Magazine Lawsuit". WWD. from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
40. "Condé Nast Calls Stefano Tonchi a "Faithless Servant" and Sues". Daily Front Row. August 13, 2019. from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
41. . Anyword. February 23, 2018. Archived from the original on April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
42. "Condé Nast veut développer les revenus issus des lecteurs". Le Figaro. October 2019. from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
43. Helmore, Edward (June 13, 2020). "Can Anna Wintour survive fashion's reckoning with racism?". The Guardian. from the original on June 13, 2020. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
44. Robertson, Katie; Mullin, Benjamin (November 1, 2023). "Condé Nast, Publisher of Vogue, Will Cut 5% of Its Work Force". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on November 1, 2023. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
45. Kilkenny, Katie (January 23, 2024). "Condé Nast Union Members Launch 24-Hour Walkout Amid Layoff Talks". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
46. Stenzel, Wesley (January 23, 2024). "Anne Hathaway walks out of Vanity Fair photoshoot in solidarity with union strike". EW.com. from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
47. Elliott, Stuart (August 10, 1999). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING; Conde Net is staking about $20 million on an effort to draw more attention to its Web sites". The New York Times. from the original on November 1, 2023. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
48. "The world of Hibernia" 2012-04-07 at the Wayback Machine. National Library of Ireland Catalog.
49. "Bad tidings; it is the end of the World of Hibernia – Independent.ie". from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
50. "Conde Nast Publications Inc acquires Citicorp-Signature Magazine from Citigroup Inc (1987/12/30)". Thomson Financial. Archived from the original on July 21, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
51. "Conde Nast Publications Inc acquires Harris Publications-Woman from Harris Publications Inc (1988/11/30)". Thomson Financial. Archived from the original on July 18, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
52. "Conde Nast Publications Inc acquires Pennington Publishing-Cook's from Bonnier AB (1990/06/25)". Thomson Financial. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
53. "Conde Nast Publications Inc acquires K-III Magazines-Magazine Sub from Primedia Inc (1992/04/22)". Thomson Financial. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
54. "Conde Nast Publications Inc acquires Knapp Communications Corp (1993/04/20)". Thomson Financial. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
55. "Conde Nast Publications Inc acquires Wired Magazine(Wired Ventures) from Telefonica SA (1998/06/12)". Thomson Financial. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
56. "Conde Nast Publications Inc acquires Fairchild Publications Inc from Walt Disney Co (1999/12/01)". Thomson Financial. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
57. "Conde Nast Publications Inc acquires Johansens Ltd(Daily Mail) from Rothermere Investments Ltd (2001/09/05)". Thomson Financial. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
58. "Conde Nast Publications Inc acquires Modern Bride Group(Primedia) from Primedia Inc (2002/02/28)". Thomson Financial. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
59. "Conde Nast Publications Inc acquires remaining interest in Ideas Publishing Group from Advance Publications Inc (2002/03/28)". Thomson Financial. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
60. "Conde Nast Publications Inc acquires LYCOS Inc-Wired News from Telefonica SA (2006/07/11)". Thomson Financial. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
61. . Thomson Financial. Archived from the original on August 28, 2010. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
62. "Breaking News: Condé Nast/Wired Acquires Reddit (2006/10/31)". TechCrunch. October 31, 2006. from the original on November 17, 2006. Retrieved October 31, 2006.
63. "Conde Nast Publications Inc acquires SFO*Media LLC (2008/05/20)". Reuters. April 24, 2008. Archived from the original on September 10, 2012. Retrieved November 14, 2008.
64. . Thomson Financial. Archived from the original on May 2, 2009. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
65. "Condé Nast Goes Shopping, Spends $14 Million on ZipList (2012/04/11)". AllThingsD. from the original on April 11, 2012. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
66. . Thomson Financial. Archived from the original on June 29, 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
67. . Thomson Financial. Archived from the original on October 18, 2010. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
68. "Conde Nast Publications Inc acquires Ideas Publishing Group (2001/01/17)". Thomson Financial. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2008.

External links

•  New York City portal
•  Companies portal

• Condé Nast homepage
• Condé Nast Middle East homepage