Media mogul, Conde Nast chairman, 89
The Associated Press
NEW YORK -- S.I. Newhouse Jr., the low-profile billionaire media mogul who ran the parent company of some of the nation's most prestigious magazines, died Sunday. He was 89.
Newhouse's death was confirmed by his family, who said he died at his New York home.
The chairman of Conde Nast since 1975, Si Newhouse, as he was known, bought and remade The New Yorker and Details magazines and revived Vanity Fair. Other magazines in the Conde Nast stable included Vogue, Wired, Glamour, W, GQ and Self.
The glossy titles helped set the nation's tastes, reached millions of readers and appealed to upscale advertisers.
"In all realms, he wanted Conde Nast -- and its writers, artists and editors -- to be at the center of the cultural conversation," Bob Sauerberg, the company's CEO, wrote to staff members in announcing Newhouse's death.
As Newhouse himself put it in a rare 1988 interview with The New York Times, "Our magazines represent a certain tone and audience."
"He was passionate about journalism and he supported journalists and editors," said his nephew Steven Newhouse, the chairman of Advance Publications Inc., which owns Conde Nast. "He set an example of caring about the right things in media, which is great stories, great design, great magazines, great websites."
Conde Nast struggled in recent years with the advertising meltdown. Since 2007, it has closed magazines including Gourmet, Modern Bride, House & Garden and Golf for Women.
Forbes said in March 2009 that the downturn had sliced Newhouse's fortune in half, but his estimated net worth of $4 billion still left him among the world's richest men. Newhouse and his brother, Donald, owned New York-based Advance Publications Inc., which in addition to Conde Nast has over 20 daily newspapers in the U.S. and a cable television company.
Samuel Irving Newhouse Jr. was born Nov. 7, 1927, on Staten Island in New York, the grandson of Russian Jewish immigrants. His father, Sam Newhouse, bought the Staten Island Advance in 1922 and used its profits to purchase more papers, eventually including The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune, The (Portland) Oregonian and two papers he merged to create The (Newark, N. J.) Star-Ledger.
High-ranking leader in Mormon church
The Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY -- High-ranking Mormon leader Robert Hales, who left a successful career as a businessman to help guide the church, died Sunday from causes related to his age. He was 85.
Hales died peacefully in a Salt Lake City hospital while surrounded by his wife and family, church spokesman Eric Hawkins said.
The New York City native was a fighter pilot in the Air Force and a business executive before he was chosen in 1994 as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a high-level governing body of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Hales missed a church conference over the weekend after he was hospitalized several days ago for treatment of pulmonary disease and other conditions. At the conference's final session Sunday, leader Henry Eyring announced Hales' death to 20,000 people in attendance and millions watching live broadcasts around the world.
"We will miss him. His wisdom and goodness have blessed our lives for many years," said Eyring, one of two top counselors to the church president.
Hales was born in 1932 and grew up on Long Island in a Mormon family with a father who was an artist.
A Section on 10/02/2017