Jack Griffin Named CEO of Time Inc.

Published on Monday, 09 August 2010 09:20 Written by TradersHuddle Staff

NEW YORK-( Business Wire )-

Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) Chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes today announced the appointment of Jack Griffin as Chief Executive Officer of Time Inc.

Mr. Griffin will succeed Ann Moore when he joins the company at the end of September. Ms. Moore, who is retiring after 32 years of service at Time, will remain as Chairman through the transition, after which Mr. Griffin will also assume that role. Earlier this month, Mr. Griffin left the Meredith Corporation where he had served as President of its National Media Group.

In making the announcement Mr. Bewkes said: “I am delighted that Jack is joining Time Inc. He is an exceptional executive who knows how to expand the reach and relevance of strong publishing brands, and he will be a champion of our high-quality journalism. As CEO, Jack will further advance our lead position in the industry and accelerate the expansion and innovation of our titles on all platforms.”

Mr. Bewkes continued: “On behalf of all our colleagues, I want to thank Ann Moore for her 32 years of distinguished service at Time Inc. She has made so many contributions over that period, including launching some of our biggest brands and diversifying our advertising client list, and, most recently, advising me on recruiting Jack. And she has done a remarkable job of leading the company over the past eight years, a challenging time in publishing. Ann has also been a visionary in digital, leading the industry to innovate across all emerging platforms. And through it all, she proved to readers and advertisers that there is great value in both the old and the new publishing formats.”

At Meredith Mr. Griffin nurtured and aggressively expanded the company’s titles while also creating highly successful advertising and marketing programs. He played a significant role in helping acquire publisher Gruner + Jahr USA, overseeing its integration into Meredith Corporation, which doubled the size of its magazine business.

Mr. Griffin said: “I am honored to join Time Inc., the world’s pre-eminent branded content company. Time Inc. has a strong culture of excellence and leadership, and I look forward to working with the great team there to continue moving the company forward. It is a great privilege to follow in the footsteps of my friend and colleague Ann Moore, who has done so much for Time Inc. and the industry.”

Ann Moore said: “I have believed for some time that Jack is the right person to be the next CEO of Time Inc., and I couldn’t be more pleased that he will lead this Company into the future. It’s a vote of confidence in our strategy that Jeff and the Board have landed one of the most experienced leaders in our industry.”

While President of the Meredith National Media Group, Mr. Griffin oversaw the company’s portfolio of media and marketing properties, and managed the company's Brand Licensing and book publishing operations. He is well known for creating Meredith Integrated Marketing (MIM), the company’s digital marketing services unit. MIM tripled in size under Mr. Griffin’s leadership, becoming an industry leader in CRM and multiplatform marketing programs. Prior to Meredith Corporation, Mr. Griffin was at Parade, a division of Advance Publications, from 1999 to 2003, where he became its President.

Mr. Griffin has won many awards and industry honors – including being selected as the Publishing Executive of the Year in 2005 by Advertising Age and receiving the AAF Jack Avrett Award for industry and community service. He has also received the National Human Relations Award from the American Jewish Committee in 2005 for his charitable work. Mr. Griffin is currently Vice Chairman of the Magazine Publishers of America, Director of the Internet Advertising Bureau and the Audit Bureau of Circulations, and a member of the AAF Hall of Achievement.

Mr. Griffin graduated with a BA in philosophy, cum laude, from Boston College and received his Master's Degree from the Yale School of Management. He is a former president of the Yale School of Management alumni association and a director of the Yale Center for Customer Insights.

About Time Inc.

Time Inc., a Time Warner company, is a world-class branded content company, investing in the future and engaging more than 138 million consumers monthly; whenever, however, and wherever they are. With 22 magazines and 26 web sites in the U.S., it is the country's largest consumer publisher. Each month, one out of every two American adults reads a Time Inc. magazine, and one out of every five, who are online, visits a company web site (more than 52 million monthly unique visitors). Time Inc.'s popular brands and successful franchises extend to online, television, mobile devices, events and branded products.

About Time Warner Inc.

Time Warner Inc., a global leader in media and entertainment with businesses in television networks, filmed entertainment, publishing and interactive services, uses its industry-leading operating scale and brands to create, package and deliver high-quality content worldwide through multiple distribution outlets.

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