The Atlantic Finds a New Home

02 Aug 2017

David Bradley sells 160-year-old “national treasure”

Re: David Bradley (MBA 1977)

Topics: Communication-Media Information-Journals and Magazines News-General Business Ventures-Business Exit or Shutdown Ownership-General

(Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

On Friday, David Bradley (MBA 1977) announced that he would be selling the Atlantic magazine to Laurene Powell Jobs, president of the Emerson Collective and widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. In a staff memo published in the Washington Post the 64-year-old Bradley wrote, “Against the odds, the Atlantic is prospering. While I will stay at the helm some years, the most consequential decision of my career now is behind me: Who next will take stewardship of this 160-year-old national treasure? To me, that answer, in the form of Laurene, feels incomparably right.” The Emerson Collective engages in cross-sector partnerships that focus on education, immigration reform, the environment, and social justice initiatives.

Bradley has told the story of transforming a magazine (purchased from Mort Zuckerman in 1999) into a multimedia organization that encompasses websites (such as Quartz, which he will keep) and an events business, among other concerns. The process took years, and was not without its rough spots, although today the company reportedly generates profits well above $10 million annually. Digital readership has grown from two million in early 2009 to a monthly average of 33 million unique visitors for the first half of 2017.

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David Bradley

MBA 1977

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