William Bernard Ziff, Jr.

William Bernard Ziff, Jr. (June 24, 1930 – September 9, 2006) was an American publishing executive. His father, William B. 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.^[1]

Biography

He was born on June 24, 1930 to William B. Ziff, Sr., a Jewish American publishing executive, author, and vocal proponent of Revisionist Zionism. He was mostly raised in Miami and then moved with his family to Sarasota in 1947. He graduated from Rutgers University in 1951 and then went to study philosophy in West Germany. In 1953, after the death of his father, he moved to New York City to take command of Ziff Davis Inc. One of his first moves after taking his father's place was buying out co-founder Bernard Davis who sold Ziff his share to start his own publishing company. Ziff re-directed the company toward enthusiast magazines and trade publications with the acquisition of such titles as Car and Driver, Popular Electronics, PC Magazine, World Aviation Directory and Computer Shopper.^[1][2]

By focusing on specialist/enthusiast 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.^[1]

In 1978, Ziff learned that he had prostate cancer and was told he had 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. Riding the wave of rapid growth in personal computing, his company quickly became the dominant computer publishing firm in the world.^[3] Ziff had wanted to turn the business over to his sons - Daniel, Dirk and Robert - but they didn't want the responsibility. In 1994, he announced the sale of the publishing group to Forstmann Little & Company for US$1.4 billion.^[4] The sale of the electronic publishing unit occurred later.^[1]

Personal life and death

In 1963, Ziff married Barbara Ingrid Beitz in a Methodist ceremony.^[5] His spouse was the daughter of the German industrialist Berthold Beitz and his wife Elsa who were recognized by Yad Vashem (the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority) as "Righteous among the Nations" for being the rare example amongst ethnic Germans by providing refuge and risking their lives to save Jews during World War II.^[6] They had three sons:^[7] 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 and Greenwich, Connecticut and were listed on the 2012 Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans with an aggregate net worth of approximately $12.6 billion.^[8]

Ziff later married Tamsen Ann Kojis, the daughter of Dr. Ferdinand Kojis^[9] and Harriet Henderson, a famous opera soprano who performed under the name Harriet Henders with conductors Arturo Toscanini and George Szell;^[10] Ziff died of prostate cancer in Pawling, New York, where he lived with his second wife.^[1][11]

References