Who

Arthur Sulzberger Jr. (or "Pinch") is the chairman and publisher of the New York Times, which his family has owned for more than a century.

Backstory

In 1896, Sulzburger's great-grandfather, Adolph Simon Ochs, bought a tiny, nearly bankrupt paper called the New York Times. By the time he handed over the paper to his son, Arthur Hays Sulzburger, three decades later, Ochs had transformed the Times into the most authoritative daily in the country. Arthur Hays Sulzburger looked after the paper until the '60s, when it was turned over to Orvil Dryfoos; two years later, it was passed to Pinch's father, Arthur Ochs Sulzburger Sr. (or "Punch").

When it came time for Punch to pick a successor in the early '90s, he had no shortage of choices. There were 13 "cousins"—members of the extended Sulzberger family—in the running. Ultimately, Punch selected his son, Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., to replace him. But "Young Arthur" was hardly the obvious choice. Irreverent, goofy, and a little immature, he wasn't seen as an ideal fit for the all-important job. Mindful, perhaps, that the very same charges had been made against him when he took over, Punch went ahead anyway and named him publisher in 1992.

Arthur Jr. was 40 when he assumed the title of publisher. He'd started out as a reporter at the Raleigh Times and the Associated Press before joining the family paper in 1978 as a Washington correspondent. Moving to the business end of the family concern in the mid-'80s, he worked in the production division and as an assistant publisher. He spent five years as publisher and moved up to chairman of the company in 1997, after his father relinquished the title.

Of note

Much like his father, many expected Jr. to have trouble keeping the paper afloat when he took over. But he managed to defy expectations and lead the company through a period of explosive growth during his first decade: Pinch was responsible for turning the Times into a national newspaper—50 percent of its subscribers now live outside New York. It was during his early tenure that the paper added color to its pages; introduced a series of less newsy—but very profitable—new sections that focused on style, home design, and food; and expanded with the acquisitions of more than a dozen newspapers like the Boston Globe and International Herald Tribune. Arthur Jr. also helped refresh the corporate culture of the once stodgy paper, which had long had a reputation for being inhospitable to women, blacks, and gays.

For all the successes of the semi-distant past, though, Sulzberger has had a challenging few years, and there's little question he has a tough road ahead. In addition to several scandals that continue to overshadow the paper (see below), he's had to come to the realization that the newspaper business is a dying one and that the future of the company lies beyond the print medium. To that end, the company has spent millions beefing up the online presences of its newspapers (most notably at nytimes.com), and made several Internet acquisitions, the largest of which was the purchase of About.com for more than $400 million in 2005.

But that hasn't been quite enough to boost the company's sagging fortunes, and Pinch has had to reckon with bitter shareholders. Although the company's stock structure has historically allowed the family to maintain control without paying much mind to shareholders, investors have been clamoring for more say in the direction of the business, and the situation reached boiling point in late 2007/early 2008 when several hedge funds, including Phil Falcone's Harbinger Capital and Scott Galloway's Firebrand Capital, accumulated large positions in the Times Co. and pushed for representation on the board. In March 2008, Sulzberger and his chief deputy Janet Robinson granted their wish and admitted two outsiders to the inner circle. The interlopers are expected to encourage Sulzberger and Robinson to shed non-essential assets (such as the new Renzo Piano-designed headquarters) and invest more vigorously in online media.

Drama

Two major scandals have undermined confidence in Sulzberger's leadership in recent years. The first, of course, was the fallout over Jayson Blair, the Times reporter who engaged in widespread fraud and plagiarism during his four stint at the paper; the scandal ultimately forced out executive editor Howell Raines (he was replaced by Bill Keller) and raised deep suspicions about editorial oversight and management at the paper. Equally damaging was the revelation in 2004 that reporter Judy Miller had been entirely deceived when she reported on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, a lapse that was compounded in 2005 when Miller was imprisoned for refusing to reveal confidential sources.

On the job

Janet Robinson is CEO of the New York Times Co. and tends to business matters at the Times and its other media properties; Sulzberger ultimately controls the editorial operations at the company: Bill Keller, the Times' executive editor, reports to Pinch, as does Andy Rosenthal, the Times' editorial page editor. Other members of the senior management team include Michael Golden, the vice chair; chief financial officer James Follo; and online chieftain Martin Nisenholtz.

In person

Occasionally likened to Tom Hanks's character from Big, Sulzberger has never had the gravitas one would expect from the publisher of America's most esteemed newspaper. He tells lots of jokes, says things to reporters he shouldn't and occasionally comes off as a 15-year-old, like when he famously responded to the Jayson Blair mess with "It sucks." Confidence in the newspaper scion wasn't elevated much during a town hall meeting to calm company employees in the immediate aftermath of the Blair embarrassment: Sulzberger baffled the crowd by brandishing a stuffed moose to symbolize the "elephant in the room."

AKA

Sulzberger earned the nickname "Pinch" for himself when he announced a 10 percent cut in staff in 1993; although the moniker remains popular with media critics, no one who is friendly with Sulzberger or works with him actually calls him that.

Off hours

The outdoorsy type, Sulzberger is a fan of rock climbing. (In his younger years, pal Steve Rattner—one his oldest friends and now one of his advisors—occasionally went climbing with him.) Although he generally declines board seats to avoid conflicts of interests, he's made one exception—Outward Bound. During his teen years, he spent 28 days surviving on his own without food or water and credits the group with changing his life.

Personal

For 33 years Arthur was married to painter and journalist Gail Gregg, who grew up in the house next door to his mother; they separated in 2008. The marriage produced two kids: Arthur Gregg, who is now a metro reporter for the Times, and Ann, a Brown grad like her brother. Since the separation, Gail has been living in the Central Park West apartment the couple formerly shared; Arthur is residing at the Phillips Club on West 66th Street. He also has a weekend home in New Paltz.

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