Skeptically Late to The Digital Stage, Wenner Media's Digital Future is in The Hands of Company Heir Gus Wenner

Photo: Damon Winter/The New York Times

Gus Wenner was put in charge of all things digital at the family business, Wenner Media, where he now sits atop a monthly combined digital audience of about 45 million across websites for RollingStone, UsWeekly and Men's Journal. The company got to the digital table late thanks to a skeptical company CEO and Gus's father Jann Wenner who believed jumping on the digital bandwagon too early wouldn't have been good for the company. However he has since opened up to the very serious reality that if Wenner Media isn't thinking digital, then they're not in the game at all. Clearly getting to where they are now, wasn't an easy road as Mr. Wenner, the founder of RollingStone pretty much wanted to leave things the way they are, and for the most part, they are unchanged. As he continues to groom his son to take over one day, the younger Wenner who is liked by many at the company is investing heavily in video and tech talent to help him secure the company's seat at the digital table and pave his path to the corner office.

The elder Mr. Wenner, these people said, has declined to pursue lines of business, including festivals and conferences, that might have provided new revenue streams. He was skeptical about the web as others were embracing it. And he has been reluctant to shift the magazine’s focus away from baby boomer rockers — U2, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones — some of whom he considers friends. (One of the best-selling recent covers featured the band Rush, which came to fame in the ’70s and ’80s.)

Jann Wenner said that he had listened to the business suggestions but decided they were not the wisest path. He feels that others leapt for the web too quickly, and that now was the correct time for an Internet push. And he said he disagreed with the notion that his thinking was dated. “Obviously the culture has evolved, but most of the same rules still apply,” he said. “Is it news? Is it interesting to a lot of people or not?”

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