The rumor that Vogue editor Anna Wintour is under consideration by President Obama to be the next ambassador to Britain caught fire in the media world again last week.
OTM is more concerned with who would run the business she’d have to leave behind: American Vogue, the flagship of the Newhouse family’s Condé Nast empire, where she has reigned supreme for 25 years.
“It’s just a rumor,” said a Vogue spokeswoman. “She’s very happy as editor of Vogue.”
Nevertheless, here’s a quick bettors guide, should it become necessary to replace her at Vogue sometime in 2013.
Favorite: Lucy Yeomans, editor-in-chief of Net-A-Porter, a luxury Web e-tailer. If Condé Nast wants to look outside and pick someone with style, looks, a stellar magazine record and a dash of digital experience, it’s a lock: Yeomans is the clear front-runner.
She’s British and turned one-time snooty Harper + Queens from a high-society magazine into a modern British Harper’s Bazaar, aiming it squarely at stylish young women during her 12-year run. Yeomans quit in March for Net-A-Porter. Downside: She has only been immersed in the digital world nine months. Odds: 2 to 1.
Amy Astley, editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue. Longtime Anna protégée and the launch editor of Teen Vogue in 2003, Astley has been running it ever since. If Wintour has any input in picking a successor, Astley would get the nod. Downside: The Newhouse family has never let an editor pick his or her successor. Odds: 3 to 1.
Linda Wells, editor-in-chief of Allure. A toss-up between her and Astley as the in-house favorite. The mag just landed on Adweek’s Hot List after a sizzling year, where it was proclaimed as must reading for fashionistas. Wells is close to Condé Editorial Director Tom Wallace. Downside: Wallace is likely to have only an advisory role in the pick. Odds: 3 to 1.
Cindi Leive, editor-in-chief of Glamour. The magazine is the No. 2 moneymaker in the Newhouse stable, and Leive is clearly a high-profile star. Downside: Glamour has slipped on the ad front, plus Leive is famous for hellish closings and a fair degree of staff churn. Odds: 5 to 1.
Ariel Foxman, managing editor of InStyle. He’s seen as a keen observer of the fashion world. Downside: He was at Condé Nast once before, editing Cargo before fleeing back to Time Inc. when the ill-fated mag folded after two years. Odds: 10 to 1.
Long shots:
Joanna Coles,
Odds: 75 to 1.
Carine Roitfeld, Odds:
1,000,000 to 1.–Keith J. Kelly
Tweet talkin’
Live Nation Entertainment Executive Chairman Irving Azoff, has gone quiet (on Twitter, that is).
Azoff, who also manages the career of Christina Aguilera as CEO of Front Line Management, hasn’t tweeted since Sept. 25. His second-to-last tweet in August read: “Hey I’m back. Stay tuned legal staff.”
Our sources say Live Nation lawyers asked Azoff to limit his social sharing so the firm isn’t exposed to the kind of SEC investigations now plaguing Netflix boss Reed Hastings.
“No lawyer ever stopped me before. I’ve just been lazy. Maybe ill start again, “ Azoff told OTM.
We’ve trolled through Azoff’s feed and haven’t found anything even nearly interesting enough to be a disclosure, but there were a few interesting digs at music-industry journalists. “What I love about Twitter is that so called journalists no longer get the last word,” he once tweeted.
Guess they’re just a careful bunch at Live Nation.–Claire Atkinson
Icahn-oclast
This year’s annual UBS investor conference was lackluster at best (due to a distinct absence of newsmakers and dodging by executives on the dais), but the highlight of last week’s gabfest was Harvey Weinstein’s interview with Netflix acquisitions chief Ted Sarandos.
Weinstein poked fun at Netflix shareholder Carl Icahn, calling him “a lucky charm,” for exiting Lionsgate as a shareholder just ahead of its monster hit “Hunger Games.”
Netflix got a huge boost last week from its Disney deal. Icahn’s stock has risen almost $10 since he got in on Oct. 31 at $76, an 11.5 percent increase. The stock closed out the week at $85.98. Not bad for a five-week investment.–Claire Atkinson
Ivy green
The American Conservative magazine’s Ron Unz has an interesting take in this month’s issue.
Unz takes Harvard to task over changing its mission, established in 1636.
Unz writes: “ But over the [last] decade or two, it quietly embarked upon a late-life career change, transforming itself into one of the world’s largest hedge funds, with some sort of college attached off to one side for tax reasons.”
Unz points out that the Harvard endowment is now north of the $30 billion mark in assets.
In order to manage this huge portfolio, Harvard has a team of hedge-fund managers. And unlike the students who are lining up to pay $37,600 a year in tuition, these managers want top dollar to come to Cambridge.
Unz backs up his campus-based hedge-fund theory with these back-of-the-envelope numbers: The Top 5 hedgies were paid $78 million last year, which works out to a tidy $16 million apiece.
Harvard’s 450 full professors pulled in $85 million last year — an average of $188,000.
Never mind publish or perish. You’d just better beat last year’s high-water mark.–Post staff