Beckman was forced to apologize and attend counseling. NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Imagesīeckman ended up banging the executives’ heads together - and breaking one of their noses, forcing Conde to pay a seven-figure settlement. If they were a public company, I wouldn’t invest in them.”īeckman is perhaps best known for a horrific “joke” gone wrong when he tried to make two coworkers - a Vogue advertising director and a Vogue fashion director - kiss after an ad sales meeting in 1999.Ī source who has worked with Beckman - whose hard-charging business style earned him the nickname “Mad Dog” - told The Post that the North London native brings a “soccer hooligan’s approach to selling”: aggressive and clever, but some of his past behavior would “not fly today.” The Messenger has tapped Dan Wakeford, a former People Magazine editor in chief, to helm the new venture. The goal of achieving that in a year isn’t just difficult - it’s “delusional,” one longtime media exec who is close to Finkelstein and Beckman told The Post. Finklestein has tapped his longtime business partner Richard Beckman to help him run The Messenger.
“Given the wildly enthusiastic response from a number of partners, we have a high degree of confidence about reaching that number by the end of 2024.”įor context, the traffic figure would make the fledgling site one of the most read digital sites in the US, beating out the likes of Conde Nast, Vox Media and the New York Post’s digital network, each of which logged around 83 million visitors each in February, according to Comscore. “The revenue will be a mix of direct advertising, programmatic and sponsorship revenue across multiple platforms,” a company spokesperson said. 2 executive Richard Beckman, a Condé Nast veteran who later served as president of The Hill, has claimed The Messenger will generate more than $100 million in revenue next year as it lures 100 million monthly readers - all while turning a profit. He’s a guy who wants to get the president on the phone.”įinkelstein’s No. “I have no doubt in his sincerity in doing it,” the source said. Patrick McMullan via Getty ImagesĪnother media exec took a softer approach, calling Finkelstein’s project “interesting” and a “positive” for the media business that, if successful, could create new jobs and enliven competition. Jimmy Finklestein, pictured wife Pamela Gross, has raised $50 million to build a news site that will employ 550 journalists.
THE MESSENGER TV
“Whenever a new website references an old magazine and TV show, you know they are not looking towards tomorrow,” deadpanned a media critic. The 74-year-old investor said the new site, which he hopes will appeal to a wide swath of Americans like “60 Minutes” and “Vanity Fair” did in past decades, will eventually employ around 550 journalists - about as many as the Los Angeles Times. The Messenger - a yet-to-be-launched news site from media mogul Jimmy Finkelstein - risks becoming a money pit helmed by old-school executives with “delusional” ambitions in an increasingly cutthroat business, according to industry insiders.įinkelstein, a former part owner of The Hollywood Reporter and The Hill who has amassed $50 million to fund the venture, told The New York Times he will launch the site in May with at least 175 journalists located across New York, Los Angeles and Washington. Vice Media taps Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala as co-CEOs Insider to slash 100 jobs as company battles ‘significant pressure, economic headwinds’Ĭalifornia lawmakers want Google, Facebook to pay news publishers for content Former digital media darling Vice to file for bankruptcy: report
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