Time magazine promoted Nancy Gibbs to deputy managing editor yesterday, making her the lead contender to succeed Rick Stengel as the magazine’s top editor.
In the event she succeeds him, Gibbs would be the first woman to edit the Time Inc. flagship in its 88-year history.
It would also set up an intriguing rivalry on the weeklies with the high-octane Tina Brown, who has been stirring things up at Newsweek since its March redesign.
“They have the same number of X chromosomes, but aside from that they are completely different,” said one insider.
“She’s not interested in Brand Nancy. She has charisma and she can work a room, but she’s more nurturing than Tina.”
Gibbs — a native New Yorker and Yale University graduate — has been at Time since 1985 and has more cover stories to her credit than any other writer, including the first 9/11 cover, four election-night covers, the Columbine school shooting and Hurricane Katrina.
In the past most top Time magazine editors have served five to eight years. Stengel is going on five and a half.
“I think the world of her, and she’s potentially a terrific editor of Time,” said Stengel.
But he added quickly, “I’m not going anywhere soon. I’ll stay past the election and after that make a decision.”
Gibbs also has outlasted the so-called heir and the “spare” at Time Inc.
Josh Tyrangiel, the former editor of Time.com who left to run Bloomberg BusinessWeek, and Romesh Ratnesar, who went on book leave and then earlier this year joined Tyrangiel at BusinessWeek.
The only other serious contender was Michael Elliott, the former deputy managing editor and the editor of Time International, who left to run the ONE Campaign, co-founded by U2 frontman Bono.
Gibb’s promotion seemed popular with former bosses.
“Nancy is that rare thing: She writes and edits like an angel, and works like the devil,” said Jim Kelly, a former managing editor of Time and now a contributing editor at Vanity Fair.