Voting Station

S.I. 'Si' Newhouse

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Publisher

The Resume

    (November 8, 1927-October 1, 2017)
    Born in Staten Island, New York
    Birth name was Samuel Irving Newhouse, Jr.
    With his brother Donald, inherited the media conglomerate Advance Communications
    Chair of Conde Nast Publications (1975-2015)
    Published the magazines Vogue, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Details, Wired, Glamour and GQ
    Worth $4 billion at his death

Why he might be annoying:

    He was inarticulate, with long, awkward pauses punctuating his conversations.
    One Conde Nast writer noted that he was ‘often mistaken for a janitor by an unsuspecting employee who didn’t think their boss might sport a sweatshirt with dribble down the front.’
    He was a poor organizer, resulting in different Conde Nast titles competing with each other for advertisers.
    He often handled firings badly. For example, Grace Mirabella discovered he had fired her as editor of ‘Vogue’ when her husband saw the news on TV (1988), and Robert Gottlieb learned he had been let go from ‘The New Yorker’ when a reporter called and asked for a comment on his firing (1992).
    He held an annual birthday bash for his dog at which the canine guests were served Evian.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He claimed to read all of Conde Nast’s magazines cover to cover.
    He was a major collector of modern art and a member of the board of the Museum of Modern Art.
    He provided incredibly generous perks for Conde Nast’s editors and publishers, with one publisher commenting, ‘If Si likes you, you will have a life you never imagined you could have.’
    His party for the 5th anniversary of the relaunched ‘Vanity Fair’ (1988) was described by one attendee as ‘the best party since Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball.’
    He avoided second-guessing his editors, describing his philosophy as ‘We try to hire people with intelligence and energy. Then they start to edit, and the magazine comes out in ways that are a total surprise to everyone.’

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 85.71% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 14 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 65 Votes: 64.62% Annoying