New appointments have been announced by magazine publisher Condé Nast in the wake of Nicholas Coleridge’s decision to step aside and take on the role of chairman.
Wolfgang Blau, currently Condé Nast International’s chief digital officer, will become its president, and Albert Read, the publisher’s general manager and deputy managing director of the British division, will take over as managing director.
They will take up their new jobs on 1 August at the Vogue and Vanity Fair publisher, when Coleridge officially retires. He has spent 26 years as managing director, which he points out, “is longer than many of our staff have been alive.”
Jonathan Newhouse, chairman and chief executive of Condé Nast International, described Blau as “a rare executive who can combine digital mastery with the journalistic talent and experience needed to redefine excellence in the digital age.”
Blau joined the company in December 2015 after two years as the Guardian’s director of digital strategy. “He is the ideal person to drive Condé Nast International’s growth”, said Newhouse.
Coleridge praised Read’s achievements in his 10 years with the company, describing him as “a first-rate media executive, with skills and accomplishments not only on the management and commercial sides of the business, but a sharp eye for editorial quality in both print and digital.”
Coleridge said: “The thing about Albert is that he is smart, hard working, well informed, has good judgement and is thoroughly professional in everything he does. He is also a very great pleasure to work with.”
Newhouse said of Coleridge, who views his new position as retirement: “He can look back with pride on a record of achievement and brilliance. He has earned the highest level of respect and admiration from his colleagues, friends, clients, and most of all, from me.”
