Samuel Irving "S.I." Newhouse Jr. (November 8, 1927 – October 1, 2017) was an American heir to a substantial magazine and media business. Together with his brother

Donald Donald is a Scottish masculine given name. It is derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinter ...

, he owned

Advance Publications Advance Publications, Inc. is a privately held American media company owned by the families of Donald Newhouse and Samuel Irving Newhouse Jr., the sons of company founder Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr. It owns publishing-related companies inc ...

, founded by their late

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fat ...

in 1922, whose properties include

Condé Nast Condé Nast () is a global mass media company founded in 1909 by Condé Nast (businessman), Condé Montrose Nast (1873–1942) and owned by Advance Publications. Its headquarters are located at One World Trade Center in the FiDi, Financial Dis ...

(publisher of such magazines as '' Vogue'', '' Vanity Fair'', and ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

''), dozens of newspapers across the United States (including ''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' was the largest circulation newspaper in New Jersey. It is based in Newark, New Jersey. The newspaper ceased print publication on February 2, 2025, but continues to publish a digital edition. In 2007, ''The Star-Ledger''s ...

'', ''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio; it is a major national newspaper. In the fall of 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily an ...

'', and ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

''), former cable company

Bright House Networks Bright House Networks, LLC also simply known as Bright House, was an American telecom company. Prior to its purchase by Charter Communications, it was the tenth-largest multichannel video service provider and the 6th largest cable internet provi ...

, and a controlling stake in

Discovery Communications Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1982, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Cha ...

Early life

He was the son of Mitzi (née Epstein) and Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr., the founder of Advance Publications. Sam Newhouse Sr. had been the young editor of the ''

Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...

Times'' and when he asked the owner of the Times for a raise he had long deserved, he was refused. Sam then quit the Times to become associated with the Staten Island paper that formed the basis of his publication future, the ''

Staten Island Advance The ''Staten Island Advance'' is a daily newspaper published in Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City. It is the only daily newspaper published in Staten Island and the only major daily newspaper focused on covering it exclu ...

'' and Advance Publications, respectively. Newhouse attended the

Horace Mann School Horace Mann School (also known as Horace Mann or HM) is an American private, independent college-preparatory school in the Bronx, founded in 1887. Horace Mann is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League, educating students from the New Yo ...

in New York City. He later attended

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

, but dropped out and began working at his father's newspapers. The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University is named for him.

Career

After dropping out of Syracuse University, Newhouse worked for the International News Service in Paris. He served two years in the U.S. Air Force before going to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to oversee two of his father's daily newspapers. In 1964, he became publisher of the U.S. edition of Vogue and in 1975, he took over as chairman of Condé Nast. In 1985, he purchased the New Yorker. Prior to his death, he had an estimated

net worth Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities. Financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, so net w ...

of $9.5 billion, and he was ranked the 46th richest American by ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' in 2014.Samuel Newhouse Jr. – Forbes
September 2015 Newhouse gave money to charity, including $15 million to Syracuse University in 1962. He was also an art collector, who at one time owned one of the most valuable paintings in the world, a

Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter. A major figure in the abstract expressionist movement, Pollock was widely noticed for his "Drip painting, drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household ...

drip painting, '' No. 5, 1948''. Newhouse was listed by '' Art News'' as among the top 200 art collectors in the world.

Personal life and death

Newhouse was Jewish. In 1951, he married Jane Franke, with whom he had three children: Samuel I. Newhouse III, Wynn Newhouse (1954–2010), and Pamela Newhouse Mensch. Franke and Newhouse divorced in 1959, despite disapproval from his parents. In 1973, Newhouse married Victoria Carrington Benedict de Ramel. In 2006, Newhouse established the

Wynn Newhouse Award The Wynn Newhouse Award is an annual prize given to disabled artists in recognition of their artistic merit. History The Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, a charitable organization founded by newspaper entrepreneur Samuel Irving Newhouse, Sr., inaugur ...

s, an annual award program that provides grants to artists with disabilities. Newhouse's grandson, Samuel I. Newhouse IV, appeared in the documentary '' Born Rich''. Newhouse died on October 1, 2017, at the age of 89.

Early life

Career

Personal life and death

References

Further reading