William Francis Reilly (June 8, 1938 – October 17, 2008) was an American publishing and media executive who was the founder and former chairman of

Primedia Primedia is a South African media group, headquartered in Sandton, Johannesburg. History Primedia was established in 1994 and its listing on the JSE Securities Exchange was completed in April 1995. Primedia remained listed on the JSE until 1 ...

. During Reilly's time at the helm of Primedia, the firm built a collection of more than 200 magazines that included ''

American Baby "American Baby" is a song by American rock band Dave Matthews Band, released as the first single from their sixth studio album ''Stand Up''. The song encourages Americans not to lose their culture in the midst of political and social trouble. It p ...

'', ''National Hog Farmer'', ''

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

'' and ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

''.

Life and career

Reilly was born 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 ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, on June 8, 1938, to a father who was a stockbroker. He attended the

Iona Preparatory School Iona Preparatory School, or simply Iona Prep, is an independent, Roman Catholic, all-male, college-preparatory school located in the north end of New Rochelle, New York, in suburban Westchester County. It consists of the Upper School for Grade ...

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...

, earned an undergraduate degree ''cum laude'' from the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

and received an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration. Reilly served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

from 1959 to 1961, attaining the rank of lieutenant.Weber, Bruce
"Bill Reilly, Magazine Publishing Executive, Dies at 70"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', October 20, 2008. Accessed October 23, 2008.Staff
"Ellen Chapman to Be Bride Of William Reilly Jr. on November 19"
''

'', October 15, 1966. Accessed October 23, 2008. Reilly spent time at

W.R. Grace and Company W. R. Grace and Co. is an American chemical business based in Columbia, Maryland. It produces specialty chemicals and specialty materials in two divisions: Grace Catalysts Technologies, which makes catalysts and related products and technologies ...

as a financial analyst. He later was named to head the company's home products, sporting goods and textiles divisions. After joining

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

as executive vice president, he was named president of the firm in 1980. His responsibilities included book publishing and the firm's Berlitz and Katherine Gibbs schools. Reilly left Macmillan in 1990, following the firm's purchase by

Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, member of parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster. Early in his life, Maxwell escaped from N ...

's Maxwell Communications, and was succeeded by David Shaffer as the company's president and chief operating officer. Reilly become president and chief executive of K-III Holdings, in which the private equity firm of

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global investment company that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its strate ...

held a 75% ownership stake. The company made a series of acquisitions of niche publications under Reilly's leadership. The firm went public in 1995, selling stock 15 million shares at approximately $12 per share, in a deal that left Kohlberg Kravis Roberts with control of 82.2% of the company's shares. The firm adopted the Primedia name as of November 18, 1997 to more clearly focus on its core business. Primedia sold a group of 17 outdoor-oriented magazines to InterMedia Outdoors for $170 million in cash, in a deal that included ''Guns and Ammo'' and ''Fly Fisherman''. Primedia sold its Enthusiast Media division to Source Interlink in a deal that netted Primedia $1.15 billion in cash in exchange for a group of more than 70 magazines, including ''

Motor Trend ''MotorTrend'' is an American automobile magazine. It first appeared in September 1949, and designated the first Car of the Year, also in 1949. Petersen Publishing Company in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles published ''MotorTrend'' until 19 ...

'' and ''

Soap Opera Digest ''Soap Opera Digest'' is a weekly magazine covering American daytime soap operas. It features onscreen and offscreen news about the series, interviews with and articles about performers, storyline summaries and analysis, and related promotional in ...

'' and 90 consumer web sites. The deal left Primedia to focus on a series of free consumer guides published by its Consumer Source unit. In 1996, Reilly fired

Kurt Andersen Kurt Andersen (born August 22, 1954) is an American writer and was the host of the Peabody-winning public radio program ''Studio 360'', a production of Public Radio International, ''Slate'', and WNYC. Early life and education Andersen was bo ...

from his position as editor-in-chief of ''

'' magazine citing the publication's financial results. Andersen attributed the firing to his refusal to kill a story about a rivalry between investment bankers

Felix Rohatyn Felix George Rohatyn ( ; May 29, 1928 – December 14, 2019) was an American investment banker and diplomat. He spent most of his career with Lazard, where he brokered numerous large corporate mergers and acquisitions from the 1960s through ...

and

Steven Rattner Steven Lawrence Rattner (born July 5, 1952) is a New York investment asset manager who served as lead adviser to the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry in 2009.

that had upset

Henry Kravis Henry R. Kravis (born January 6, 1944) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist."When a Magazine Is Too Brash for the Bottom Line"
''

'', September 29, 1996. Accessed October 23, 2008. He married Ellen Chapman in November 1966, which ended in divorce. Reilly died of

bone cancer A bone tumor is an abnormal growth of tissue in bone, traditionally classified as noncancerous (benign) or cancerous (malignant). Cancerous bone tumors usually originate from a cancer in another part of the body such as from lung, breast, thyro ...

and

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

at the

Waldorf-Astoria Hotel The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schultze ...

, where he had been receiving hospice care.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reilly, Bill 1938 births 2008 deaths American magazine publishers (people) Harvard Business School alumni Iona Preparatory School alumni People from Manhattan United States Army officers University of Notre Dame alumni