NEW YORK — Late next year, Time Inc., the company that all but created the modern magazine business, will leave its home of more than five decades, the Time & Life Building in Rockefeller Center, and head to downtown Manhattan.
It’s a pragmatic move to cut costs, but one filled with symbolism for a company starting over in fundamental ways.
On Monday, the largest US magazine publisher begins trading as an independent company, stock symbol TIME. What was once a jewel in terms of profit and stature is now a drag on the share price of Time Warner, its parent, and is being spun off with a load of debt.
Time Inc. will be going it alone with more than 90 magazines and 45 websites in a market that views print as a thing of the past.
The task of turning around the company falls to Joseph A. Ripp, the CEO hired in September. According to two people with knowledge of the strategy, leaders at the company met with editors and told them they were expected to make cuts in staffing and other areas — totaling 25 percent of editorial costs — in the coming months.
Ripp says Time has the brands and personnel to thrive. But he has made it clear he did not bring any magic bullets.