Former Condé Nast Editor Plans a Vanity Fair for the Substack Era

Writers have been offered equity and a percentage of the subscription revenue they would generate, the people said. It’s one of the first attempts to align the new talent economy with more traditional media institutions. Mr. Kelly has already been in talks with several well-known journalists, including Wesley Lowery, formerly of The Washington Post.

The publication would rely on an algorithm to gauge how many readers bought a subscription because of a specific writer, the people said. Mr. Kelly is recruiting some of his former colleagues, the people added.

Another novel aspect is the funding. One of the backers is the private equity firm TPG, which would take three seats on the Heat Media board, with one going to its co-chief executive Jim Coulter, the people said.

Another investor is 40 North, a related investment arm of Standard Industries, a global industrials company, the people said. David Winter, its co-chief executive, would also take a board seat. Heat Media has raised around $7 million so far, according to the people.

Mr. Kelly and TPG declined to comment. 40 North did not respond to a request for comment.

Mr. Kelly left Condé Nast, the publisher of Vanity Fair, in March 2019 and joined TPG shortly afterward. The leader of the firm, Mr. Coulter, is friends with Mr. Carter, and TPG backed Mr. Carter’s post-Vanity Fair venture, Air Mail.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/14/business/media/jon-kelly-newsletter-start-up.html