Fortune magazine, an iconic business publication, is sold for $150 million to Thai businessman Chatchaval Jiaravanon by Meredith Corporation, which recently acquired Time Inc.
Jiaravanon Jiaravanon is the Executive Chairman of CP Group, an umbrella holding company for several businesses worldwide owned by his family – one of Asia’s wealthiest clans.
Chatchaval Jiaravanon
Meredith Media Corporation recently agreed to sell Fortune magazine to Chatchaval Jiaravanon of Thailand-based Charoen Pokphand Group – which owns businesses including agriculture, food production, telecommunications, and 7-Eleven convenience stores – for $150 million. This development marks another move by wealthy billionaires to purchase American publications at a premium.
Jiaravanon holds a bachelor of business from the University of Southern California and has held positions on many public and private boards of companies. Additionally, he serves as chairman for Lightnet, an inclusive international remittance provider, and Moneytable, a Singapore-based fintech with an integrated digital human resources platform.
He has also presented at the USC Asia Conference and Thailand Board of Investment and is an INSEAD East Asian Council Member. Additionally, he founded Velo Labs Technology Ltd and Asia Infonet Co Ltd as founding chairs.
Meredith Corp.
Edwin Thomas Meredith established his company in 1902 with the success of a farm magazine he published. Subsequently, Meredith also added home and family titles and television stations with large databases of consumer names that allow advertisers to target specific groups of individuals.
Diversified media projects of this company have steadily expanded over time, now publishing magazines in over 40 markets with an overall circulation of over 120 million. Furthermore, producing television programs on 11 broadcast television stations reaches 11% of the U.S. population.
Meredith Media General recently underwent a transformational effort, selling off certain assets to streamline operations and refocus. Their television stations will be sold off to Gray for $2.7 billion by the end of 2021, pending regulatory approval and shareholder votes; upon completion, this transaction will become known as Meredith Media General.
The Porter family
Fortune serves a global audience by telling stories that matter to those shaping industry, commerce, and society around the globe. Through unrivaled access and exceptional storytelling techniques, it equips business leaders to succeed in an evolving global environment.
Terry Porter-Fahey’s 2008 book The Richard Porter Family Genealogy indicates that Luke and Dinah were the legal property of Dr. Porter and lived on an agricultural estate east of Waterbury town center that produced rye, wheat, Indian corn, potatoes, apples, beef hogs, hay, and cider production. Their son Jacob was born in 1786, while Mira and Roxa were likely also born here.
Chatchaval Jiaravanon’s magazine purchase marks another example of billionaires investing their wealth into iconic American publications following Time’s sale to Silicon Valley entrepreneur Marc Benioff. Jiaravanon, known for investing in Asia-based companies, said he’d use personal funds to acquire the media brand later this year. The deal should close later.
Fortune’s skeleton
At the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, Connecticut, visitors could see for four decades a skeleton known as “Larry,” which turned out to be that of an 18th-century slave named Fortune. When removed from display in 1970 by museum officials, nobody knew what should become of him; eventually, he was used in medical research experiments and subjected to various indignities before being left forgotten in a basement.
Physicians give people more choices in how their bodies are used in scientific research. One solution to Fortune’s skeleton was giving him a proper burial and moving him away from a long-delayed fate in the basement. His story serves as a reminder that dignity can withstand even centuries of degradation; wrongs can still be righted even though some have long since occurred; Fortune now belongs to a billionaire owner, so its future looks secure.
