It’s a stampede for the exits at Hachette Filipacchi Media.
Out of a workforce that numbers about 600 people, at least 120 are expected to be gone by the time the Hearst takeover closes early in the third quarter, said one executive.
Many HFM staffers are not waiting around to find out what’s going to happen.
Condé Nast is expected to announce today that it has hired Eric Johnson, executive director, integrated marketing at Elle to become the new associate publisher of marketing at Bon Appetit. It’s one of the first hires made since Pamela Drucker Mann was installed in the Bon Appetit publisher job by Executive Vice President and Publishing Director Bill Wackermann.
The move is surprising in that in the last year Carol Smith jumped from Elle chief brand officer to publisher of Bon Appetit but was out suddenly after only seven months, giving Condé a public relations black eye in the process.
But Condé, which seems to feel the most pressure from the pending merger of HFM and Hearst, insists there is no shortage of people from Hachette still willing to jump ship.
“Let’s just say our phones have been ringing,” said Wackermann.
But it is not just Condé Nast.
Even American Media Inc., which recently emerged from a whirlwind bankruptcy, has managed to lure a trio of top Hachette production-side executives, including Mike Esposito, vice president of operations and digital systems; director of supply management Mark Eisner and production director Steve Romeo. By jumping to AMI, they are foregoing severance and any bonuses that HFM would offer.
HFM would not confirm the departures.
“We don’t comment on specific individuals out of respect for their privacy. However, we have not had a mass exodus of executives from HFM US,” said Steve Parr, HFM’s president and CEO.
How many will be given pink slips in the US is a matter of conjecture. Hearst is acquiring 102 magazines from French media group Lagardére, including its US-based HFM unit that houses Elle, Elle Décor, Woman’s Day, Road & Track, Car and Driver and Cycle World, for close to $900 million.
One Hearst insider said he didn’t expect anyone who works on the actual brands — that is, the magazines themselves — in ad sales or editorial to be let go. It helps that Hearst plans to keep all the magazines after the sale and not spin any off, said one industry source who was hoping to pick off the pieces.
Back-shop personnel in production, circulation, legal and human resources, as well the upper echelon from Parr on down, are likely to be out of jobs before the deal closes.
One industry consultant, Reed Phillips even predicted that half the staff could be wiped out, although some sources close to Hearst are downplaying that number.
Another source, who didn’t want to be quoted, predicted it could be far higher.
Hachette has been downsizing for years, so there’s not a lot of fat to eliminate. One industry source who has worked inside both publishing houses said he would not be surprised to see editors and publishers switched out eventually as well.
Wieners win
Brad Wieners, who ended his three-year run as editor of Men’s Journal in November after clashing with Wenner Media boss Jann Wenner, has landed rather quickly. He’s joining Bloomberg BusinessWeek as an execu tive editor.
Wieners reports to Editor-in-Chief Josh Tyrangiel and Deputy Editor Eric Pooley. He appears to be the masthead replacement for Hugo Lindgren, who left BBW in September after only seven months to take up the editor’s job at the New York Times Sunday Magazine. kkelly@nypost.com