Condé Nast Launches New Business Magazine

Condé Nast's much-hyped new business magazine, Portfolio, hits newsstands this week. A megamillion dollar investment by the publisher of Vogue and Vanity Fair, the magazine aims "to chronicle how business shapes the world — and who the players are that wield the power." The editor in chief, Joanne Lipman, in her editor's letter declares, "Business should be about power. And guts. And passion. Business coverage should be, too."

Condé Nast has demonstrated both "guts" and "passion" in launching Portfolio during a tough time for magazines, especially business titles, which have experienced a loss in advertising pages. It is estimated the company is committed to spending between $100 million to $125 million on the magazine before it becomes profitable.

Unlike its competitors Fortune and Forbes, which are biweeklies and tend to run short analytical newsy features, Portfolio, a monthly, will run far longer stories along with a lavish photographic and design format. The first issue has 322 total pages, with 185 pages of advertising from a string of high-end luxury and business advertisers.

Since the magazine was announced 20 months ago, Condé Nast is said to have recruited 75 editors and writers from such places as the New York Times, Time, Vanity Fair, and Wired. Ms. Lipman comes from the Wall Street Journal, where she was deputy managing editor and is credited with developing the paper's Personal Journal section and Weekend Edition.

What's in the glossy launch issue? A long feature by Tom Wolfe, author of "The Bonfire of the Vanities," about today's "Masters of the Universe," as well as interviews with Bill Ford, Mel Karmazin, the ruler of Dubai, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, and a first-person account of the CIA leak scandal by the magazine's Washington correspondent, Matt Cooper. Mr. Cooper previously worked at Time and faced jail time.

First reviews of the magazine have been positive. A professor of journalism at the University of Mississippi who is known as "Mr. Magazine," Samir Husni, said, "I took one look and I said, ‘Wow!' I think it is terrific. And I am also celebrating the fact that a major magazine company is still committed to launching a major title instead of pulling the plug on one!"