Zillah Byng-Thorne to be replaced by US news exec Jon Steinberg at Future

Magazine queen Zillah Byng-Thorne is replaced as chief executive of Future by American newsman Jon Steinberg.

After a five-month search for a successor, the publishing giant behind Country Life and Marie Claire ended up with the former boss of Buzzfeed and MailOnline.

Steinberg will take the job in April and, in a nod to shareholders worried about life after Byng-Thorne, vowed to “build on her success.”

Brokers Stifel said Steinberg has “big boots to fill,” while Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter said Byng-Thorne “would be a tough act to follow.”

She is regarded as one of Britain’s most successful bosses since taking over at Future in April 2014.

At the time, the magazine house was full of £30 million in debt and on the brink of collapse.

But as she bows, the 48-year-old is leaving a company that has transformed into a titan of the publishing world, with 250 titles, including TechRadar, FourFourTwo and Go Compare. Its market value has increased fourteenfold to £1.75 billion, placing it comfortably in the FTSE 250 index of the largest UK companies.

Byng-Thorne is credited with successfully navigating the shift away from print to make Future an online powerhouse.

Her strategy was to pick up ailing magazine brands on the cheap, then use Future’s technology platform to boost their online offerings so they could keep pace in the digital age.

Future also dominates many special interest areas and owns the go-to websites for gamers, photographers, space enthusiasts and more.

This means advertisers can effectively target users based on their interests, which has helped protect the publisher from a global cut in ad spending.

Despite falling more than 60 percent since their pandemic peak, shares are up some 1,300 percent, according to Byng-Thorne’s watch.

She has been handsomely rewarded – at times she has been criticized for gargantuan pay packages.

She has taken home £38.4 million since she was appointed nearly nine years ago – and could earn up to £1 million more for her work since September. Steinberg will be paid a similar amount if he takes the job.

Byng-Thorne said leading the company was a privilege and she is confident Steinberg will take Future “from strength to strength.”

Chairman Richard Huntingford said he was impressed by the 45-year-old’s years of digital experience and his time in the United States, one of Future’s key growth markets.

The chairman also pointed to Steinberg’s entrepreneurship, as the founder of millennial-focused news platform Cheddar, which was eventually bought by billionaire Patrick Drahi for £165 million.

A regular pundit on American TV, the charismatic Ivy League graduate oversaw a period of tremendous growth as president of Buzzfeed from 2010 to 2014.

He then ran the Daily Mail’s US-based sister publication, Dailymail.com, before leaving in 2016 to found Cheddar.

Steinberg joined the US arm of Drahi’s Altice in 2019 when it bought Cheddar and ran its news and advertising business. He moves from New York to London in time to take over.

Steinberg said, “Future is a company I have followed closely and long admired for how it has redefined the media playbook, combining the best of editing and technology.” The stock closed down 1.3 percent, or 18p, at 1419p.

Streeter said investors seemed “disappointed” by Steinberg. But she added, “His experience leading digital-first publishing companies, having run his own house before heading up the Altice USA news and advertising division, is clearly what made him a standout candidate.

“Future’s strength is its razor-sharp focus on creating respected content on specialist topics, such as gaming, which has been a major draw for advertising partners, and he will need to demonstrate leadership flair to maintain that edge.”