Russell T. Lewis
The New York Times
- 3-year return: 130%
- Age: 51
- CEO since: 1997
Lewis made major strides last year toward reinventing the Times as a national newspaper. Along with chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr., whose family still owns a controlling interest, Lewis coordinated a $1 billion plan that, among other things, introduced color printing. The two also transformed the paper into a six-section daily, opened printing plants in Washington, D.C., and Boston to improve northeastern distribution, and pushed the national edition into dozens of new markets. Revenue grew 2.5 percent to almost $3 billion.
Business Philosophy: "The collective intellect and industry of a group yields greater results than any one individual."
Headaches: A slowdown in traditional newspaper advertising. The proliferation of media choices, especially the Internet, threatens to cannibalize both readership and prestige.
True Story: While on active duty as a National Guardsman delivering U.S. mail during a postal strike, he secretly gathered information for a Times story. He narrowly avoided court-martial but won a National Publishers award.
Management Style: "I'm more interested in making sure we have the right people in the right places than in telling people what to do."
Strength: Getting people with different styles, ideas, and backgrounds to cooperate.
Weakness: Untested in standing up to the Sulzberger family during a crisis or recession.
Habits: Out the door by 6:15 a.m. Prefers face-to-face meetings to email or phone calls.
Other Interests: Fitness, running. Says he's a lousy golfer but loves the game.
Corporate Goals:
- Increasing circulation by a quarter of a million copies daily and by 300,000 on Sunday within ten years.
- Opening four new printing-plant sites.
- Increasing registered users on the Times website from 6.2 million to 9 million by year's end.
Personal Goal: To protect the 150-year-old Times not only as a business but as an institution vital to the national conscience.
Financial Reward (1998): Salary of $503,100. Bonus of $570,000.