Bill Reilly
Encyclopedia
William Francis Reilly was an American
publishing and media executive who was the founder and former chairman of Primedia
. During Reilly's time at the helm of Primedia, the firm built a collection of more than 200 magazines that included American Baby
, National Hog Farmer, Chicago
and New York
.
, New York City
on June 8, 1938, to a father who was a stockbroker. He attended the Iona Preparatory School
in New Rochelle, New York
earned an undergraduate degree cum laude from the University of Notre Dame
and received an MBA
from Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration
. Reilly served in the United States Army
from 1959 to 1961, attaining the rank of lieutenant.
Reilly spent time at W.R. Grace and Company as a financial analyst. He later was named to head the company's home products, sporting goods and textiles divisions.
After joining Macmillan
as executive vice president, he was named president of the firm in 1980. His responsibilities included book publishing and the firm's Berlitz and Katherine Gibbs
schools.
Reilly left Macmillan in 1990, following the firm's purchase by Robert Maxwell
's Maxwell Communications, and was succeeded by David Shaffer as the company's president and chief operating officer. Reilly become president and chief executive of K-III Holdings, in which the private equity firm of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts held a 75% ownership stake.
The company made a series of acquisitions of niche publications under Reilly's leadership. The firm went public in 1995, selling stock 15 million shares at approximately $12 per share, in a deal that left Kohlberg Kravis Roberts with control of 82.2% of the company's shares. The firm adopted the Primedia name as of November 18, 1997 to more clearly focus on its core business. Primedia sold a group of 17 outdoor-oriented magazines to InterMedia Outdoors
for $170 million in cash, in a deal that included Guns and Ammo and Fly Fisherman. Primedia sold its Enthusiast Media division to Source Interlink in a deal that netted Primedia $1.15 billion in cash in exchange for a group of more than 70 magazines, including Motor Trend
and Soap Opera Digest
and 90 consumer web sites. The deal left Primedia to focus on a series of free consumer guides published by its Consumer Source unit.
In 1996, Reilly fired Kurt Andersen
from his position as editor-in-chief of New York
magazine citing the publication's financial results. Andersen attributed the firing to his refusal to kill a story about a rivalry between investment bankers Felix Rohatyn
and Steven Rattner
that had upset Henry Kravis
, a member of the firm's ownership group.
He married Ellen Chapman in November 1966, which ended in divorce. Reilly died of bone cancer and prostate cancer
at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
, where he had been receiving hospice care.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
publishing and media executive who was the founder and former chairman of Primedia
Primedia
PRIMEDIA Inc. is privately held American media company fully owned by TPG Capital.Consumer Source Inc. is the sole operating division of PRIMEDIA and helps millions of consumers find apartments, houses for rent, and new homes for sale through its Internet, mobile, and print products...
. During Reilly's time at the helm of Primedia, the firm built a collection of more than 200 magazines that included American Baby
American Baby
"American Baby" is the first radio single from Dave Matthews Band from their 2005 studio album, Stand Up. The song is also featured on the band's greatest hits album, The Best of What's Around Vol. 1...
, National Hog Farmer, Chicago
Chicago (magazine)
Chicago is a monthly magazine published by the Tribune Company. It concentrates on lifestyle and human interest stories, and on reviewing restaurants, travel, fashion, and theatre from or nearby Chicago. Its circulation in 2004 was 165,000, larger than People in its market...
and New York
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
.
Biography
Reilly was born in ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on June 8, 1938, to a father who was a stockbroker. He attended the Iona Preparatory School
Iona Preparatory School
Iona Preparatory School is an all-boys National School of Excellence Catholic high school located in New Rochelle, NY in suburban Westchester County. Named for the Scottish island of Iona, the school was founded by the Congregation of Christian Brothers in 1916...
in New Rochelle, New York
New Rochelle, New York
New Rochelle is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state.The town was settled by refugee Huguenots in 1688 who were fleeing persecution in France...
earned an undergraduate degree cum laude from the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
and received an MBA
Master of Business Administration
The Master of Business Administration is a :master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out...
from Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
. Reilly served in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
from 1959 to 1961, attaining the rank of lieutenant.
Reilly spent time at W.R. Grace and Company as a financial analyst. He later was named to head the company's home products, sporting goods and textiles divisions.
After joining Macmillan
Macmillan Publishers (United States)
Macmillan Publishers USA, also known as Macmillan Publishing, is a privately held American publishing company owned by the Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. It has offices in 41 countries worldwide and operates in more than 30 others....
as executive vice president, he was named president of the firm in 1980. His responsibilities included book publishing and the firm's Berlitz and Katherine Gibbs
Gibbs College
Katharine Gibbs College was a private for-profit institution of higher learning based in the United States of America, founded by Katharine Gibbs....
schools.
Reilly left Macmillan in 1990, following the firm's purchase by Robert Maxwell
Robert Maxwell
Ian Robert Maxwell MC was a Czechoslovakian-born British media proprietor and former Member of Parliament , who rose from poverty to build an extensive publishing empire...
's Maxwell Communications, and was succeeded by David Shaffer as the company's president and chief operating officer. Reilly become president and chief executive of K-III Holdings, in which the private equity firm of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts held a 75% ownership stake.
The company made a series of acquisitions of niche publications under Reilly's leadership. The firm went public in 1995, selling stock 15 million shares at approximately $12 per share, in a deal that left Kohlberg Kravis Roberts with control of 82.2% of the company's shares. The firm adopted the Primedia name as of November 18, 1997 to more clearly focus on its core business. Primedia sold a group of 17 outdoor-oriented magazines to InterMedia Outdoors
InterMedia Outdoors
InterMedia Outdoors is an outdoors magazine publishing group in the United States. They publish 17 hunting, fishing and shooting magazines, and own The Sportsman Channel specialty channel, which was purchased from its founders in June 2007...
for $170 million in cash, in a deal that included Guns and Ammo and Fly Fisherman. Primedia sold its Enthusiast Media division to Source Interlink in a deal that netted Primedia $1.15 billion in cash in exchange for a group of more than 70 magazines, including Motor Trend
Motor Trend
Motor Trend is an American automobile magazine. It first appeared in September 1949, issued by Petersen Publishing Company in Los Angeles, and bearing the tag line "The Magazine for a Motoring World". Petersen Publishing was sold to British publisher EMAP in 1998, who sold the former Petersen...
and Soap Opera Digest
Soap Opera Digest
Soap Opera Digest is a weekly magazine covering American daytime soap operas. It features onscreen and offscreen news about the series, interviews with and articles about performers, storyline summaries and analysis, and related promotional information...
and 90 consumer web sites. The deal left Primedia to focus on a series of free consumer guides published by its Consumer Source unit.
In 1996, Reilly fired Kurt Andersen
Kurt Andersen
Kurt Andersen is an American novelist who is also host of the Peabody-winning public radio program Studio 360, a co-production between Public Radio International and WNYC. In 1986 with E. Graydon Carter he co-founded Spy magazine, which they sold in 1991; it continued publishing until 1998...
from his position as editor-in-chief of New York
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
magazine citing the publication's financial results. Andersen attributed the firing to his refusal to kill a story about a rivalry between investment bankers Felix Rohatyn
Felix Rohatyn
Felix George Rohatyn is an American investment banker known for his role in preventing the bankruptcy of New York City in the 1970s, who also served as United States Ambassador to France. He was a long term advisor to the U.S...
and Steven Rattner
Steven Rattner
Steven Lawrence Rattner is an American financier who served as the lead auto advisor in the United States Treasury Department under President Barack Obama...
that had upset Henry Kravis
Henry Kravis
Henry R. Kravis is an American businessman and private equity investor. He is the co-founder of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., a private equity firm with over $62 billion in assets as of 2011. He has an estimated net worth of $3.7 billion as of September 2011, ranked by Forbes as the 88th richest...
, a member of the firm's ownership group.
He married Ellen Chapman in November 1966, which ended in divorce. Reilly died of bone cancer and prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
The Waldorf-Astoria is a luxury hotel in New York. It has been housed in two historic landmark buildings in New York City. The first, designed by architect Henry J. Hardenbergh, was on the Fifth Avenue site of the Empire State Building. The present building at 301 Park Avenue in Manhattan is a...
, where he had been receiving hospice care.