Reader’s Digest Association was jolted last week as Dan Lagani, the head of its North American operations, was suddenly let go.
Chief Executive Robert Guth will take over direct responsibility for the flagship magazine, according to an e-mail sent to employees late Friday.
The division Lagani headed for the last 14 months, which includes Family Handyman and the former Reiman Publications in Milwaukee, Wis., which publishes the Taste of Home title, are considered the crown jewels of the once vibrant company.
Reader’s Digest, with a circulation of 5.5 million, was once among the largest circulation magazines in the US.
Guth may institute more stringent cost-cutting to goose the bottom line in advance of a sale, sources said. The 49-year-old former telecommunication executive became RDA’s third CEO in five months when he was named to the position last September.
He has been supervising an aggressive bust-up of the company, but has offered little hint of what is coming next.
Until Friday, Lagani seemed like a survivor. Hired as publisher of Reader’s Digest by then-CEO Mary Berner in May 2010, Lagani survived a Chapter 11 reorganization and the corner office shakeup that saw Berner leave in April.
Ironically, the departure hits at a time when ad page sales at Reader’s Digest rose 13 percent through July over the year-earlier period.
Reached over the weekend, Lagani was tight-lipped about the circumstances surrounding his exit.
“I had a great relationship with all three CEOs and built a strong team that had tremendous success,” he told The Post. “I am very proud of all that we did to improve the business.”