Hearst is celebrating its 135th anniversary this year. Privately owned, International Congress owns several newspaper, magazine and television companies, but has also diversified into the automotive, medical and financial industries with extensive business-to-business acquisitions.
In the year In 2019, “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal spoke with Hearst President and CEO Steven Swartz. Now, amid high inflation and supply chain issues, we’ve reached out to the company to find out how it’s managing its business. The following is an edited transcript of their speech.
Kai Rysdal: Okay, so three years ago I came to New York, I went to the Hearst Tower, which was really cool, and we had a nice long conversation. That’s what I want to start with. It’s a very different economic time now compared to three years ago. what’s your feeling
Steve Swartz: Well, you know, so far this year, we’ve had a great year. And obviously, we’re all concerned about, you know, what’s going on with inflation, basically with the war in Ukraine, the prospect of a recession – not just in the United States, but around the world. So, you know, we’re taking a very cautious approach for the rest of this year and probably into next year.
Ryssdal Are you delaying hiring by saying, “Cautionary View”? Are you doing something different? You know, are you kind enough to think of your songs and Qs?
Swartz: No, you know, we’re not delaying hiring. We have many internal growth projects that we are excited about. But you know, we’re definitely pulling back on our forecast, unlike Rose, there may come a time when we find that some costs are unnecessary or some things need to be slowed down. But we haven’t done that yet.
Ryssdal You know, I was surprised in the process of reading for this interview, I was surprised to notice that they all just bought a trailer, and now you’re getting into automotive. So my question is, are you worried about spreading yourself too thin?
Swartz: It’s a very valid question. And we always look. We’re in a lot of businesses, but I’d say we’ve been in the auto business a long time, Kai. We own the engine database. We own the Black Book database of used car prices, and own Car & Driver and Road & Track. And it’s those fellows who got the trailer. Bring Tow is the leading online platform for buying and selling classic cars. That business is still a rocket ship. It really is an amazing business.
Ryssdal And it’s a lot of fun. Like the guy flipping through the internet, it’s nice to see all those vintage cars that I do in my random wanderings online. But let me ask you – so this is kind of a process question. Have your colleagues in the car and driver come up to you and say, “Listen, we’ve got to buy this?” How is that decision made for a conglomerate like yours?
Swartz: Oh, absolutely. Well, you know, we try not to be too bureaucratic. But we have a small team to help. My senior colleagues and I look at the purchases, then we take them to the board of directors. And even though, you know, it was relatively early days of the epidemic, they couldn’t have been more supportive. And we are very happy because it turned out to be a great job.
Ryssdal Let’s talk a little more about post-epidemic life at Hearst. When looking at what you’re trying to do, do you have supply chain concerns? Are you worried about inflation? I mean, these things are, you know, things that business managers everywhere worry about.
Swartz: I’d say we definitely have all of the above. I don’t think they are disabled in any way. And as I said, year to date – year to date – our profits are higher than last year, and last year was a record year. And again, that’s not too bad for a 135-year-old company. I would say our biggest concern is what inflation, interest rate increases will do to the overall economy and thus our ability to grow and sell our products and services.
Ryssdal Without asking this softball question – and I realize I’m being a little self-deprecating there, but what the hell – why do you think last year was Hurst’s record year? I mean, yes, there was a lot of economic growth everywhere, but why you guys in particular?
Swartz: We have this heritage and this history of taking our skills and finding areas with good growth rates. One of the things we do is we’re a great home for entrepreneurs who want to sell maybe most of their business, but like private equity, they’re looking for a home that won’t be resold in a few years. But we just keep pushing forward. You know, even some of our oldest businesses like newspapers and magazines made a strong comeback last year, and have continued to grow so far this year.
Ryssdal The last question and then I’ll let you go, sir, and it goes like this: 135 years old this year, Hearst Corporation. If the original Hearst – William Randolph – walked the halls and knocked on your door today, what do you think it would tell you about the state of the company?
Swartz: You know, not only are we continuing to build the media business that he’s so passionate about, but I think he’s going to be incredibly impressed with how we define quality. Information. This isn’t just news for the consumer, although that’s important, we’ve moved into all of these B2B sectors and shown that we can take those skills and find new growth. So I would like to think that he will be, he will be happy with what he sees.
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