NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- New York magazine will not go up for sale, despite the death of owner Bruce Wasserstein on Oct. 14, the company CEO said today.
"The company will continue to be controlled by a Wasserstein family trust that is proud of the work being done by New York magazine and its online properties nymag.com, MenuPages.com, and Grub Street," he said. "We will continue the high standards set under Bruce's leadership, which have established us as an innovative and forward-thinking media property."
Mr. Wasserstein's death last week triggered worries that New York would go on the block, perhaps to land in the hands of an owner less-protective of the editorial product and more fixated on pushing New York into profitable territory fast. Prospects of an immediate sale seemed low, but worrisome nonetheless.
"This is a really terrible time for the magazine to lose him, because of the really tragic recession," former editor Caroline Miller told Ad Age last week. "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."
