W Magazine furloughs majority of staff, suspends print

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Mar 31, 2020

Future Media Group's W Magazine has gone on hiatus and furloughed the majority of its staff, as the novel coronavirus's impact on the global economy causes businesses to rethink their strategies. 

Originally reported by the New York Times, the magazine announced that its print edition would be postponed indefinitely last week, and those who work on the magazine's online edition will continue to work with reduced salaries. 

According to the Times, W Magazine's editor, Sara Moonves, called her staff to tell them that many were being furloughed last Monday. 

In an interview with the newspaper, Marc Lotenberg, chief executive of W's parent company Future Media Group, said that "the bottom has dropped out of the luxury market" and the magazine's dramatic cuts are the result. 

The Covid-19 outbreak has delivered a particularly hard blow to the magazine, following years of instability in a changing media world. After being up for sale for nearly a year, W was sold to Future Media Group by Condé Nast in June 2019. At the time of the sale, Moonves was promoted from her role as the magazine's style director to editor-in-chief, replacing longtime editor-in-chief, Stefano Tonchi.

Tonchi would go on to file a $1 million lawsuit against Advance Publications, the owner of Condé Nast, alleging that he was wrongfully terminated and denied severance. Advance would later contest these claims, while making counter claims that Tonchi obstructed the sale process multiple times. 

In addition to W, Future Media's portfolio includes Surface Magazine and Watch Journal. FashionNetwork.com reached out to the company for comment, but has yet to receive a response.