Portfolio magazine closed after only two years

The most expensive magazine launch in the history of Condé Nast has fizzled out. The company today announced it was shuttering Portfolio, its struggling business magazine (in which $100 million was reported to have been invested), according to a story in Folio:.

The 450,000-circ magazine was launched in April 2007 and did some excellent editorial work. However, before it much got its legs under it, the recession struck and ad pages fell almost 61% in the first quarter of this year, according to Publishers Information Bureau figures.

[The pic above is the launch issue. Personally, I will particularly miss Jeff Bercovici's Mixed Media column and blog, which had a smart, informed take on the structural and economic aspects of this business.]