Owner of New York magazine dies suddenly, leaving uncertainty

The sudden and unexpected death at 61 of Bruce Wasserstein, the ka-billionaire chair of Lazard Freres and major magazine player, including being owner of New York magazine, Penton Media and The Deal, has raised considerable uncertainty about the future.

According to a story in AdAge, New York is part of New York Media, a family trust. Mr. Wasserstein has seven children; he married for a fourth time earlier this year.

Mr. Wasserstein led the investment group that struck a deal to buy New York magazine from Primedia in December 2003, paying $55 million, plus around $2 million in debt, for a title that was then struggling, defeating other contenders including American Media, CurtCo Robb Media and a consortium led by Daily News' Mort Zuckerman. Under Mr. Wasserstein, [editor Adam] Moss led New York to win after win at the annual National Magazine Awards while NYMag.com became an example of what magazines ought to do online.

AdAge spoke to Caroline Miller, the former editor displaced by Wasserstein to install Adam Moss:

"Bruce was perfect for New York magazine. This despite the fact that he felt the need to replace me. It was a magazine that needed an owner with deep pockets, who had a serious commitment to making it prestigious and smart as possible. And he put a lot of money into it."

"This is a really terrible time for the magazine to lose him, because of the really tragic recession," Ms. Miller added. "This is the kind of time when it matters most who owns you. There hasn't been a tremendous slaughter at the magazine. I'm sure that's in part because rather than having shareholders wringing their hands at the board table, you had an owner who's rich and patient and smart and strategic."