Peter D. Barbey (born 1957/58) is an American publisher, chief executive officer (CEO) and president at Reading Eagle Company, which owns the '' Reading Eagle'' newspaper and the

WEEU WEEU (830 AM) is a commercial station in Reading, Pennsylvania. It has a news/talk radio format and is owned by Twilight Broadcasting, Inc. WEEU is powered at 20,000 watts by day. Because AM 830 is a clear channel frequency reserved for Cl ...

830 AM radio station, both based in Reading, Pennsylvania. Barbey's family is listed by

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

as one of "America's wealthiest families" and is ranked as the 48th wealthiest family in America.

Early life

Barbey is the son of the heir and businessman Edwin Quier "Bud" Barbey and his wife Ruth Virginia Diener. Barbey is one of the heirs to the

VF Corporation VF Corporation (formerly Vanity Fair Mills until 1969) is an American global apparel and footwear company founded in 1899 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado. The company's 13 brands are organized into three categories: Outdoor, Active and Wor ...

retail fortune that includes

Vans Vans is an American manufacturer of skateboarding shoes and related apparel, established in Anaheim, California, and owned by VF Corporation. The company also sponsors surf, snowboarding, BMX, and motocross teams. From 1996 to 2019, the comp ...

The North Face The North Face is an American outdoor recreation products company. The North Face produces outdoor clothing, footwear, and related equipment. Founded in 1968 to supply climbers, the company's logo draws inspiration from Half Dome, in Yosemite ...

The Timberland Company Timberland LLC is an American manufacturer and retailer of outdoor footwear, owned by VF Corporation and founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1952. The company also sells apparel and accessories including watches, eyewear, and leather goods. Tim ...

, and Lee jeans. Fewer than a dozen Barbey family members own almost 20% of VF Corporation, which has $12 billion in annual revenues. VF Corporation was founded by Peter Barbey's great-grandfather John Barbey, and taken public in 1951 by his grandfather John Edward Barbey.

Village Voice

In October 2015, through his newly created Black Walnut Holdings, he acquired ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

''. In August 2018, a year after going to an online-only format, the Voice announced it was ceasing to publish new material. In his announcement, Barbey promised a "fully digitized Voice archive orcoming generations", with some employees staying on to complete that task. Three-time Voice art critic

Peter Schjeldahl Peter Charles Schjeldahl (; March 20, 1942 – October 21, 2022) was an American art critic, poet, and educator. He was noted for being the head art critic at ''The New Yorker'', having earlier written for ''The Village Voice'', ''ARTnews'', and ...

remembered his stints at the publication in a piece in The New Yorker at the time.

Personal life

He is married to Pamela Terry Barbey. Until 2011 they lived in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...

, before moving to Reading, Pennsylvania. In 2016, Barbey bought an apartment in New York City's

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

for $27 million. Barbey has one son, Matt Barbey, who lives in New York City.

Philanthropy

Barbey, his wife and son operate their charitable foundation, the Edwin Barbey Charitable Trust, from which they make charitable donations for causes notably in Pennsylvania, Arizona and New York City as well as other national causes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbey, Peter 1950s births Living people 21st-century American newspaper publishers (people) The Village Voice people