时代公司新任CEO将迎来上市大考

    时代华纳公司(Time Warner)CEO杰夫•比克斯日前宣布，乔•里普将出任时代公司(Time Inc.)新任CEO。现年61岁的里普曾任时代公司、时代华纳以及美国在线(AOL)的CFO，现为OneSource Information Services公司的CEO。此前，比克斯曾经为这家34亿美元的出版子公司接连挑选了两位外部人士CEO (杰克•格里芬，劳拉•朗)，但他们的表现都不尽如人意。因此，如今的里普被视为是一个相对安全的选择。内部人士相信里普能理解时常带有政治色彩的时代公司文化，他敏锐的财务头脑则有望带领这家公司完成今年年底或明年年初可能进行的剥离交易。

    另一位领先候选人也是曾经的内部人士迈克•克林史密斯，前时代公司CFO，目前管理着明星论坛报传媒公司（Star Tribune Media Company）。但据接近公司的消息人士称，磋商止步于薪酬以及他希望留在明尼阿波利斯的想法。第三位曾经出现的候选人名字是时代公司CFO霍华德•艾福瑞，日前他获任母公司相同职位。时代华纳的发言人没有回复寻求置评的电话。

    将时代公司带上市对于里普而言是一项严峻的挑战，换做任何人也都一样。里普是《财富》杂志销售副总裁布兰达•里普的父亲，他必须说服投资者们，多份印刷杂志资产有其价值。从《人物》(People)、《造型》(InStyle)、《时代》周刊(Time)到《财富》杂志，这些品牌都拥有辉煌的历史，而且时至今日依然保持盈利。但它们正在面临与其他出版媒体一样的挑战，时代公司的净利润已经连续7个季度下滑。另外，人们也不清楚时代华纳将会选择让这家前子公司承担多少债务。几周前比克斯在一次宴会上对同事们讲话时，用到了15亿美元这个数字——《财富》杂志的一篇文章指出，这样的数字可能会让时代公司不堪重负。时代华纳的一位发言人后来指出，比克斯只是“打个比方”。市场调研公司Gimme Credit的高级分析师戴夫•诺佛赛尔表示：“如果你看到业务快速增长，那么负债越多越好。但很难说这是一项高成长性的业务。”（财富中文网）

    译者：早稻米

    Joe Ripp will be the new CEO of Time Inc., Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes announced today. Ripp., 61, a former CFO of Time Inc., Time Warner (TWX) and AOL (AOL), and currently the CEO of OneSource Information Services, was seen as a relatively safe choice after Bewkes's ill-fated selections of outsidersJack Griffin and then Laura Lang as the previous chiefs of the $3.4 billion publishing unit. Insiders perceive him as someone who understands the often-political Time Inc. culture but who also has the financial acumen to guide the company through a spinoff, expected later this year or early next year.

    The other top candidate for the job was another outsider-insider, Michael Klingensmith, himself a former Time Inc. CFO who now runs the Star Tribune Media Company. But sources close to the company say talks broke down over both salary and his desire to remain in Minneapolis. A third name that had surfaced, Time Inc. CFO Howard Averill, was named to the same position at the parent company today. A Time Warner spokesperson did not return a call seeking comment.

    Taking Time Inc. public will be a difficult challenge for Ripp -- or for anyone. Ripp, who is the father of Fortune's Vice-President of Sales, Brendan Ripp, must convince investors that there is value in a collection of print magazines. The brands themselves, which range from People to InStyle to Time and Fortune, have a distinguished history and they remain profitable overall. But they are facing the same challenges as all established media are and, as a result, Time Inc. earnings have dropped for seven straight quarters. Also unclear is how much debt Time Warner will choose to assign to its former unit. Bewkes used the number $1.5 billion -- a figure that a previous Fortune article argued might burden Time Inc. -- while speaking to colleagues at a dinner a few weeks ago. A Time Warner spokesman subsequently asserted that Bewkes was speaking in an "illustrative" manner. Says Dave Novosel, senior analyst at Gimme Credit: "If you see a resurgence in the business then more leverage is better. But it would be hard to argue that this is a high-growth business."