William Bernard "Bill" Ziff Jr. (June 24, 1930 – September 9, 2006) was an American publishing executive. His father,
William Bernard Ziff Sr., was the co-founder of
Ziff Davis Inc. and when the elder Ziff died in 1953, Ziff took over the management of the company. After buying out partner
Bernard G. Davis, he led Ziff Davis to become the most successful publisher of technology magazines in the 1970s and 1980s.
[
]
Biography
He was born on June 24, 1930 to Bill Ziff Sr., a Jewish American publishing executive, author, and vocal proponent of Revisionist Zionism, and his second wife, Amelia Mary Morton. He was mainly raised in Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
, and then moved with his family to Sarasota
Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sou ...
, in 1947. A polymath
A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...
with a photographic memory
Eidetic memory ( ; more commonly called photographic memory or total recall) is the ability to recall an image from memory with high precision—at least for a brief period of time—after seeing it only onceThe terms ''eidetic memory'' and ''pho ...
, he graduated from Rutgers University
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...
in 1951, then studied philosophy in West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
. In 1953, after the death of his father, he moved to New York City to lead Ziff Davis Inc. Four years later, he bought out co-founder Bernard Davis, who then launched Davis Publications Inc. Ziff then re-directed the company toward enthusiast magazines and trade publications, with the acquisition of such titles as ''Car and Driver
''Car and Driver'' (''CD'' or ''C/D'') is an American automotive enthusiast magazine. In 2006 its total circulation was 1.23 million. It is owned by Hearst Magazines, who purchased prior owner Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. in 2011. It was f ...
'', ''Popular Electronics
''Popular Electronics'' was an American magazine published by John August Media, LLC, and hosted at TechnicaCuriosa.com. The magazine was started by Ziff-Davis Publishing Company in October 1954 for electronics hobbyists and experimenters. It soo ...
'', '' PC Magazine'', ''World Aviation Directory'' and '' Computer Shopper''.[
By focusing on enthusiast and trade publications, Ziff's salesmen were able to directly target advertisers who wanted to market to a specific audience. His approach was very successful: manufacturers and retailers were eager to advertise in his magazines at a time when general-interest publications were largely suffering from declining advertising sales.][
In 1978, Ziff was diagnosed with prostate cancer, with a prognosis of only a few years to live. In 1984, he sold most of the consumer and business magazines for US$712.5 million keeping a few computer titles like ''PC Magazine''. His computer magazines pioneered the format of conducting sophisticated technical tests of computer products; as a result, their reviews would often make or break the introduction of new personal computers, modems, or CD-ROM drives. During the rapid-growth genesis of personal computing, Ziff Davis quickly became the dominant computer publishing firm in the world. Ziff had wanted to turn the business over to his sons- Daniel, Dirk and Robert -but they did not desire the responsibility. In 1994, he announced the sale of the publishing group to ]Forstmann Little & Company
Forstmann, Little & Company was a private equity firm, specializing in leveraged buyouts (LBOs). At its peak in the late 1990s, Forstmann Little was among the largest private equity firms globally. Ultimately, the firm would suffer from the burs ...
for US$1.4 billion. The sale of the electronic publishing unit occurred later.[
]
Personal life and death
In 1963, Ziff married Barbara Ingrid Beitz in a Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
ceremony. She was the daughter of the German industrialist Berthold Beitz
Berthold Beitz (; 26 September 1913 – 30 July 2013) was a German industrialist. He was the head of the Krupp steel conglomerate beginning in the 1950s. He was credited with helping to lead the re-industrialization of the Ruhr Valley and r ...
and his wife Elsa, who were recognized by Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...
(the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority) as "Righteous among the Nations
Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sa ...
", for being the rare example among ethnic Germans by providing refuge and risking their lives to save Jews during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. They had three sons: Dirk Edward Ziff (b. 1965); Robert D. Ziff (b. 1967); Daniel M. Ziff (b. 1973). His sons are principals of Ziff Brothers Investments, 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 Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich (, ) is a town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast, Greenwich is home to many hedge funds and other ...
; they were named on the 2012 Forbes 400
The ''Forbes'' 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by ''Forbes'' magazine of the wealthiest 400 American citizens who own assets in the U.S., ranked by net worth. The 400 was started by Malcolm Forbes in 1982 and the list is pub ...
list of the richest Americans, with an aggregate net worth of approximately $12.6 billion.
Ziff later married future Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...
chair Tamsen Ann Kojis, daughter of Dr. Ferdinand Kojis and Harriet Henderson (also known as noted opera soprano Harriet Henders who performed with famed conductors Arturo Toscanini and George Szell
George Szell (; June 7, 1897 – July 30, 1970), originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born American conductor and composer. He is widely considered one of the twentieth century's greatest condu ...
). Ziff died from prostate cancer in Pawling, New York
Pawling may refer to:
*Pawling (town), New York, in Dutchess County
** Pawling (village), New York, in the town of Pawling
*** Pawling (Metro-North station), train station for the village
** Pawling Nature Reserve, in the northern section of the ...
, where he lived with Kojis.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ziff, William B. Jr.
1930 births
2006 deaths
American magazine publishers (people)
People from Pawling, New York
Deaths from prostate cancer
Rutgers University alumni
Deaths from cancer in New York (state)
American people of Jewish descent
Businesspeople from Miami
William B. Jr.
20th-century American businesspeople