Time Inc.'s Heir Not So Apparent Now

Every corporate shake-up has its winners and its losers. So who got the worst of yesterday's massive reorganization at Time Inc. -- aside, that is, from the 600 people who are losing their jobs?

That, according to various Time Inc. insiders, would be John Squires, the executive vice president and former Entertainment Weekly president who will now be heading up the News Business Unit, the division containing Time, Fortune, Money and Sports Illustrated. While that's certainly a big job, it represents a step down from his previous post, in which he oversaw an even larger group of titles as well as consumer marketing and retail operations. "I can't imagine he's very happy about this," says one longtime colleague. (Squires, reached by phone, declined to comment.)

It wasn't so long ago that Squires was recognized as the heir apparent to Time Inc. CEO Ann Moore, having won the internal competition with his co-COO, Nora McAniff. But now Squires has lost the pole position -- and this just as it has become clear that Moore won't leave at the end of her current contract.

"I don't think Ann's going to leave until someone asks her to leave," says a former executive, explaining that the widespread assumption that Moore would step down in 2010 was based on the company's weak performance in 2006. The following year, however, Time Inc. beat its budget as a result of both cost cuts kicking in and top-line growth. The result: Even though Moore, at 58, has passed the age at which Time Inc. executives typically hang it up, the new consensus is she's likely to get another term from Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes.

And that leaves Squires in the cold -- along with Stephanie George, who had been running the group containing Time Inc.'s most profitable titles, People and In Style, and who now will head up corporate sales and marketing.

Meanwhile, says a source, "People are talking more and more about this Sylvia Auten" -- the head of IPC, Time's British subsidiary, who now will be general manager of the Lifestyle group, the unit that includes Real Simple, Southern Living, and Health. While it wasn't explicitly spelled out in the memo announcing the reorganization, the editors in Auten's group -- unlike those in the News and Style/Entertainment groups -- won't report to Time Inc. editor in chief John Huey. Technically, that represents a diminution of Huey's portfolio, although Huey has always made it clear he doesn't care much for the women's titles. Could Auten's special role be a sign that she's the new heir apparent? It's worth noting that the British magazine industry is known for operating on much tighter budgets than its American counterpart.