Condé Nast

History

Condé Montrose Nast, a New York City-born publisher, launched his magazine empire in 1909 with the purchase of Vogue, which was first created in 1892 as a New York weekly journal of society and fashion news. At first, Nast published the magazine under Vogue Company and did not incorporate Condé Nast until 1923. He had a flair for nurturing elite readers as well as advertisers and upgraded Vogue, sending the magazine on its path of becoming a top fashion authority. Eventually, Nast's portfolio expanded to include House & Garden, Vanity Fair (briefly known as Dress and Vanity Fair), Glamour and American Golfer. 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. Its magazines focus on a wide range of subjects, including travel, food, home, culture, and other interests, with fashion the larger portion of the company's focus.

Nast remained committed to publishing the highest-quality magazines, and in order to ensure the finest printing for his magazines opened a state-of-the-art printing press in 1924. It eventually grew to become one of the finest manufacturing plants in the country (until it closed in 1964 to make way for more centrally located sites capable of producing higher volumes). Adherence to those high standards continued even during the Great Depression, when Condé Nast introduced innovative typography, design and color. Vogue's first full color photograph 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. Glamour, launched in 1939, was the last magazine personally introduced to the company by Nast, who died in 1942.

In 1959, Samuel I. Newhouse, known as "Sam," bought a controlling interest in Condé Nast, merging 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.

The Newhouse era at Condé Nast launched a period of acquisitions (Brides was acquired in 1959), overhauls of existing magazines (after being shuttered in 1936, Vanity Fair was revived in 1983) and the founding of new publications (Self was launched in 1979). And during the years following Samuel's 1979 death, Condé Nast continued to control an impressive roster of publications, maintaining its image as a premier publisher.

In June 1999, Condé Nast moved from 350 Madison Avenue to 4 Times Square, which at the time was the first skyscraper built in New York City since 1992 and boasted a Frank Gehry cafeteria. The move was also viewed as a contributor to the transformation of Times Square.

In August 1999, Condé Nast purchased Fairchild Publications (now known as Fairchild Fashion Media), home to W and WWD, from the Walt Disney Company.

On October 5, 2009, Condé Nast announced the closure of three of its publications: Cookie, Modern Bride, and Elegant Bride. 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.

Other Condé Nast titles were shut down as well. The company folded the women's magazine Jane with its August issue in 2007 and later shut down its website. One of Condé Nast's oldest titles, the American edition of House and Garden, ceased publication after the December 2007 issue. Portfolio, Mademoiselle and Domino were folded as well.

Condé Nast has also made some notable acquisitions. On October 31, 2006, Condé Nast acquired the content aggregation site Reddit, which was later spun off as a wholly owned subsidiary in September 2011. On May 20, 2008, the company announced its acquisition of a popular technology-oriented website, Ars Technica.

In July 2010, Robert Sauerberg became Condé Nast's president. In May 2011, Condé Nast 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.

In June 2011, Condé Nast announced that it would relocate its headquarters to One World Trade Center in 2015.

In September 2011, Condé Nast said it would offer 17 of its brands to the Kindle Fire.

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. 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.

In late October 2013, the company ceased its low and unpaid internship program.

In November 2014, Condé Nast moved into One World Trade Center, where its new headquarters is located.

On September 14, 2015, the company announced Robert A. Sauerberg, Jr. was appointed as its chief executive officer (CEO) and will remain its president; its former CEO, Charles H. Townsend, will be its chairman, while S.I. Newhouse, Jr. will be chairman emeritus (effective January 2016).

On October 13, 2015, Condé Nast announced that it had acquired Pitchfork.

In July 2016, Conde Nast announced the launch of Condé Nast Spire, a new division that will focus on finding links between consumers' purchasing activity and their content consumption by connecting Condé's own first-party behavioral data.

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