Samuel Irving “Si” Newhouse, Jr., chairman emeritus of Condé Nast, passed away today at age 89 after a long illness, a spokesperson for the family confirmed. Newhouse, together with his brother Donald, owned Advance Publications, whose properties include Condé Nast, dozens of newspapers across the United States, and a controlling stake in Discovery Communications. The company was founded by their father in 1922.
Newhouse ran the company’s magazine division, Condé Nast Publications (publisher of Vogue, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker, among two dozen others), and served as its famously exacting and faithful chairman for 40 years, as he painstakingly developed what would become the foremost magazine publisher in the world. He retired to the role of chairman emeritus in early 2015.
Largely considered to be shy and unassuming, he defied what The New York Times in 2008 called “the image of the media baron driven by love of limelight, political influence, or money,” often wearing simple slacks and a New Yorker sweatshirt to work, where he would rarely miss a chance to vet his magazines before publication, and reportedly counted the advertising pages by hand. He was markedly unafraid of the boom and bust of the glossy world of print, pouring money and support into titles and projects that were often initially derided and eventually revered. (Vanity Fair was one such property; for years a chronic money loser, it eventually became one of the company’s best-selling titles.) “He loves magazines, meaning the whole and all of it, the variety of things published, the business details, the visions and actions and personalities of his editors, the problems, the problem-solving, the ink and paper . . . the all of it,” The New Yorker’s Editor in Chief David Remnick once told New York Magazine. During his tenure, Newhouse and his brother expanded their inherited media empire into one of the country’s largest privately owned companies, adding additional newspapers and magazines and cutting-edge digital properties like Reddit. A giant of the publishing world, and a true believer in talent and creativity, his passing marks the end of an era in American media.
“Si Newhouse was the most extraordinary leader,” said Anna Wintour, Condé Nast artistic director and Editor in Chief of Vogue. “Wherever he led, I followed, unquestioningly, simply because he put as much faith in me as I had in him. Si never looked at data or statistics, but went with his instincts and expected his editors to do the same. He urged us to take risks and was effusive in his praise when they paid off. Every time I’d preview the latest issue of Vogue with him, he’d encourage me to go for the less expected cover, the more compelling image. Yet there was nothing showy about the way Si led. This humble, thoughtful, highly idiosyncratic man, quite possibly the least judgmental person I’ve ever known, preferred family, friends, art, movies, and his beloved pugs over the flashiness of the New York media world. His personality shaped the entire company. It might have been a huge global media entity, yet Si, who arrived at 4 a.m. every day in an unchanging uniform, ran it like his own personal and very benevolent fiefdom. We’d regularly have lunch—lunches which were scheduled by him six months in advance—and he’d arrive with a yellow legal pad, with maybe three words written on it. So few words, yet somehow, they encapsulated so many lessons, lessons which I still strive to put into practice every day I come to work.”