Condé Nast – the home of Vogue, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker – is on the hunt for a new chief executive, but a major hurdle to finding talent is the company’s most famous exec, the “Machiavellian” Anna Wintour, insiders say.
In addition to her eye for fashion, Wintour — the model for Meryl Streep’s character in “The Devil Wears Prada” — is known for being just as hard-to-please for senior management as she is for underlings.
“It’s a curse,” one former Condé Nast exec told The Post. “Being compliant and pliable seems to be a requirement.”
As case in point, Roger Lynch, who recently left the helm of Condé for Mattel, was ceaselessly deferential to Wintour, who he promoted to global chief content officer in 2000, sources said.
That promotion expanded Wintour’s responsibilities beyond Vogue’s US title, which she’d already turned into a taste-making powerhouse, but it also gave her broad say over Condé’s international business as a whole.
Emphasizing that the next Condé CEO has to get along with Wintour, one insider said “no exec will be able to touch Vogue’s business without her signoff.”
During her 38 years at Vogue, Wintour has transformed it from a high-profile magazine to a media juggernaut that includes the lucrative annual global fashion show, Vogue World, as well as the company’s partnership with the Metropolitan Museum’s buzzy Met Gala.
Wintour took heat for standing by antisemitic fashion designer John Galliano, who eventually pulled out of his Met Gala exhibit in August. While she backed down in the face of widespread criticism, she’s still viewed as the dominant force at Condé Nast.
“Condé Nast has become Vogue, Inc. at this point,” the source added. “The company is a pyramid at which Anna sits at the top.”
That is due in part to the fact that Lynch essentially whittled Condé to a few core brands — “Vogue,” “Wired,” “Vanity Fair” and “The New Yorker,” the person said.
No more fat expense accounts
During his seven-year tenure, the CEO folded Teen Vogue into Vogue, Pitchfork into GQ and Vogue Business into Vogue, along with shuttering Self. Glamour, once a cash cow for the company, also ceased its print publication in 2018, while beauty magazine Allure closed its print publication in 2022. Lynch also wound down many of the brand’s international publishing operations.
The moves hollowed out the company, especially compared to its glory days of fat expense accounts, boozy lunches and sky-high fashion budgets.
“Have no idea who would want the job,” said a former Condé exec. “Roger ran it into the ground and the board watched. Who would want to work in a place like that?”
“The business is a disaster,” said another ex-executive with knowledge of the company’s financials.
Complicating matters is Wintour’s powerful role overseeing global content and editorial strategy across Condé Nast’s portfolio – as well as her mandate to hire the top editorial leaders. (Wintour’s purview does not extend to The New Yorker, which is run like a fiefdom under David Remnick. Unlike other top editors, he does not report to Wintour, but the company’s CEO.)
“She’s Machiavellian,” said a third former Condé exec, noting that Wintour put loyalists in big jobs and that she is close to Steven Newhouse, the chairman of Condé owner Advance.
Condé’s chief content operations officer Christiane Mack is considered a contender for CEO, with many Wintour allies pulling for her, a Vogue source said.
But several Condé insiders scoffed at the notion, saying Mack lacks business experience and would never be a serious candidate.
A former high-ranking Condé exec said an internal candidate or former exec would be best positioned for the tough gig.
“It’s a particular company with big personalities,” the source said. “They need someone who understands how the place runs.”
Atlantic CEO Nick Thompson, who previously served as Wired’s editor-in-chief, is among the names to surface as meeting that criterion.
“Anna loved Nick,” one former exec said. “She fawns all over him. He’d be a good match.”
Vision wanted
Other names that have been bandied about include the company’s former global chief revenue officer Pam Drucker Mann, who left to start her own company, Run-A-Muck Media, as well as former Condé Nast Entertainment head Dawn Ostroff and Condé’s former chief digital officer Fred Santarpia, who recently served as president of Endeavor Streaming.
“The problem is, there’s no bench. They had to bring in someone from the board to run it,” said another former exec, who was referring to board member and interim-CEO Mike Perlis in the wake of Lynch’s exit.
Sources also suggested outside candidates such as Keith Grossman, president of MoonPay and former president of Time Magazine, as well as Jen Wong, the COO of Reddit, which is owned by Advance, or Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff.
Those names may be wishful thinking, however, as many of them already have prestigious jobs, insiders said.
One source said the company could go for a more out-of-the-box candidate, such as a CEO of a division of a beauty conglomerate, explaining that that industry has learned how to transform their business via influencer marketing and social media.
“The job is an interesting opportunity and an interesting problem,” said one source who is widely considered a potential candidate.
“They really do need a vision. They don’t need to do so much cutting. They need to find someone to bring the place back to life. They need a broad vision.”
Condé Nast did not comment.
