Even though he is not a financial journalist, young Time deputy managing editor Josh Tyrangiel has been tapped to head up Business Week, filling the position left vacant by Steven Adler, who left when Bloomberg LP bought the title last month. This is a loss for Time, as Tyrangiel — who ran Time.com — was a rising talent and very popular leader. Current Bloomberg Chief Content Officer Norm Pearlstine, who tapped him, knew him from his days at Time Inc., where Tyrangiel started as a music critic. (He previously worked at Vibe and Rolling Stone.) “I saw Josh in a number of leadership positions as he took on increasing responsibilities at Time. Working closely with him in the years I served as Time Inc.’s editor-in-chief, I came to appreciate his intelligence, curiosity, energy, and integrity,” Pearlstine said in a statement. “Josh is recognized within Time Inc. and its parent, Time Warner Inc., as an ‘editor’s editor’ and a natural leader.”
According to the Business Week report of the hire, Tyrangiel may have been gearing up to replace editor Rick Stengel:
In some media circles, Tyrangiel was considered a leading candidate to succeed Time managing editor Richard Stengel. According to sources, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes was so impressed with Tyrangiel that he tried to recruit him to be come the editor of CNN.com, the online arm of the 24-hour cable news channel, but Time Inc.’s current editor-in-chief John Huey intervened and convinced Tyrangiel to stay at Time with the promise that he might one day succeed Stengel.
But we hear Stengel’s contract was recently renewed by Huey — a move that surprised some in the company — which may have left Tyrangiel wondering about his future. Despite his youth and lack of experience in business, this steal looks like it may have been a well-played one for Business Week, as Tyrangiel did have experience helping helm Time for a period, while Stengel was on a book leave. The pick at least indicates, as the Times points out, that Bloomberg is planning to keep a traditional magazine format there even as they figure out how to mesh the title with the business wires. And it indicates that they plan to continue focusing their energy on developing the robust brand that is BusinessWeek.com, which is why some believe they bought the magazine in the first place.
Josh Tyrangiel To Be BusinessWeek Editor [PR Newswire]
Related: Bloomberg Got a Bargain: The Business Week purchase was really about the Web site [Big Money]
