Ron Galotti is an American former magazine executive. He was a corporate Vice President at Condè Nast and the publisher of such Newhouse owned publications as ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'', '' GQ'' and '' Vanity Fair''. Galotti famously left Condè Nast to found ''

Talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

'' magazine with editor

Tina Brown Christina Hambley Brown, Lady Evans (born 21 November 1953), is an English journalist, magazine editor, columnist, talk-show host, and author of ''The Diana Chronicles'' (2007) a biography of Diana, Princess of Wales, '' The Vanity Fair Diarie ...

, where he was president of the company. ''Talk'' became a symbol of old-school excess and failed less than three years after its launch. The company was backed by

Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein (; born March 19, 1952) is an American former film producer and convicted sex offender. He and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent films includ ...

, who reportedly invested 50 million dollars of personal capital. After ''Talk'' folded, Galotti returned to Condè Nast to run ''GQ'' for about two years before retiring to Vermont.

Background

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

-born Galotti was raised in Peekskill, Westchester County, New York. His parents ran a liquor store. Young Ron raised chickens and earned a five-year 4-H pin from the Yorktown Grange. His only known sibling was a sister (born with

Down syndrome Down syndrome or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with physical growth delays, mild to moderate intellectual dis ...

) who is now deceased. Galotti's father died when Ron was nine years old. After barely managing to graduate from high school, he enrolled in the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

, at the height of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. He was stationed for more than 3 years in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, rising to the rank of sergeant. He earned income by loan-sharking and later opened a brothel with the usury proceeds.

Relocation

After his last magazine position at '' GQ'', Galotti sold his homes in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

and Long Island, and relocated, around 2004, with his family to a farm in

North Pomfret, Vermont North Pomfret (also Snows Store) is an unincorporated community within the town of Pomfret in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. Its ZIP code is 05053. Notable people * Scott Milne, politician * Dana Stone Dana Hazen Stone (April 18, 19 ...

Inspiration for "Mr. Big"

He is generally considered to be, and has been cited by ''New York'' magazine as, the real-life inspiration for the character of "Mr. Big" (played by actor

Chris Noth Christopher David Noth ( ; born November 13, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as NYPD Detective Mike Logan on '' Law & Order'' (1990–95), Big on ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), and Peter Florrick on ''The ...

) on HBO's ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the same name, the series premiered in the United Stat ...

'' (based on the books of the same name by

Candace Bushnell Candace Bushnell (born December 1, 1958) is an American author, journalist, and television producer. She wrote a column for ''The New York Observer'' (1994–96) that was adapted into the bestselling ''Sex and the City'' anthology. The book was ...

).Galotti profile
''New York Magazine''
''New York Magazine'', February 12, 2001.

References

Living people American media executives American people of Italian descent Businesspeople from New York (state) Year of birth missing (living people) People from the Bronx People from Pomfret, Vermont Military personnel from New York City {{US-business-bio-stub