Consumer >> CEO Interviews >> February 15, 1999
WILLIAM F. REILLY is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PRIMEDIA,
Inc. (formerly K-III Communications Corporation), a New York-based
specialty media company he founded with Charles G. McCurdy and Beverly
C. Chell, in 1989 in partnership with Kohlberg Kravis Robert & Co. Mr.
Reilly has been a leader in media and publishing since he became
President of Macmillan, Inc. in 1980. As President of the well-known
publishing and information company, Mr. Reilly was instrumental in
guiding Macmillan to the greatest period of growth in its 50 plus year
history. From 1982-1988, Macmillian's revenues more than tripled, its
earnings grew at an average rate of 23% per year and the value of its
stock increased 12 fold. Mr. Reilly has applied a similar growth
strategy at PRIMEDIA , where revenues have grown to over $1.4 billion
through a series of well-timed acquisitions of media, education and
information products and companies. Its properties now include such
well-known titles and publications as Channel One, Weekly Reader and New
York, Chicago, Seventeen, Moderate Bride, and American Baby magazines.
Mr. Reilly began his business career in 1964 as a financial analyst at
W.R. Grace & Co. in New York. Before leaving Grace in 1980, Mr. Reilly
was, in succession, President and CEO of the company's Textile, Herman's
World of Sporting Goods and Home Center divisions. Mr. Reilly is a
graduate of the University of Notre Dame, where he is a member of the
Board of Trustees. He also received his MBA from Harvard Business School
after serving as a First Lieutenant with the U.S. Army Airborne. He is a
member of the Board of Directors of FMC Corporation and is active in a
number of New York City civic and philanthrophic endeavors, including
Citymeals-on-Wheels, The New York partnership, the Endowment Fund of
Cardinal Hayes High School in the South Bronx, and Channel 13/WNET, the public
television station serving New York City. Profile
the history just so we can set the stage for the readers?
Mr. Reilly: I was President of Macmillan, Inc., the publishing
