New Time Inc. boss open to post-spinoff acquisitions

Time Inc.’s newly installed CEO Joe Ripp said he would not rule out acquisitions of print or digital properties as part of his efforts to grow the𓆉 magazine empire after it is spun off a𓃲s a separate entity.

Ripp, speaking at New York’s annual Advertising Week on Tu𓄧esday, said he plans to take the cash flow that previously flowed to parent Time Warner and plow it back into the publishing company.

“Time Inc.’s problem is that it has been in the shadow of Time Warner for too many yꦏears,” Ripp said in his first public appearance since officially taking the reins th💟is month.

Confronting a prolonged print ad slump, Time Warner announced in March that it would spin off the magazine division as a new company early next year, allowing the parent to focus ꦿon the more 🌜profitable television and film assets.

The question for Time Inc. titles, including People, Sports Illustrﷺated and InStyle, will be how to reinvest that money with print under pressure and readers migrating to digital.

“If you’re People … do you buy a competitor? Do you buy Us?” Or, do⛦ you invest in digital initiatives, Ripp said.

“I’ve saiꦍd from day one that we are no longer a magazine,” he said while also predicting that “magazines will be around 25 years from now.”