Why, observers puzzled, would Wall Street dealmaker Bruce Wasserstein (MBA 1971, JD 1970) pony up $55 million to buy New York magazine? Once the standard-setter of the city-magazine genre, the publication no longer seems to be the must-read it used to be among the Big Apple’s smart set.

“Whatever New York magazine lacks in profit and prospects, it makes up for in the social cachet it can bestow on the owner in the media and cultural capital of the United States,” opined the New York Times (December 17, 2003). Well, maybe so, but could it be that the new owner is really just an ink-stained wretch at heart? It turns out that Wasserstein, CEO of Lazard, had at one time pondered a career in journalism, been an editor at his college paper, and worked one summer at Forbes magazine while attending HBS, according to the Times. Even when he moved on and established himself as an investment banking whiz, Wasserstein was purchasing or founding other below-the-radar media properties, including the American Lawyer and the Deal.

Asked about New York’s storied history and its role in helping bring writers such as Tom Wolfe and Jimmy Breslin to national prominence, Wasserstein told the Times, “I am not a romantic. I know the past, but that was then, and this is now. We plan on moving the magazine more upscale and improving the business coverage of the city.”

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