{{short description|American billionaire heir and businessman (1927–2017)}} {{Use American English|date=February 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox person | name = Samuel Irving Newhouse Jr. | image = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1927|11|08}} | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2017|10|01|1927|11|08}} | death_place = New York City, U.S. | occupation = Publisher | title = Chairman Emeritus, Condé Nast | spouse = {{ubl | {{marriage|Jane Franke|1951|1959|end=div}} | {{marriage|Victoria Benedict|1973}}}} | children = 3 | parents = Samuel Newhouse Sr.<br/> Mitzi Epstein | relatives = Donald Newhouse (brother) }}
'''Samuel Irving "S.I." Newhouse Jr.''' (November 8, 1927 – October 1, 2017) was an American heir to a substantial magazine and media business. Together with his brother Donald, he owned Advance Publications, founded by their late father in 1922, whose companies include Condé Nast (publisher of such magazines as ''Vogue'', ''Vanity Fair'', and ''The New Yorker''), dozens of newspapers across the United States (including ''The Star-Ledger'', ''The Plain Dealer'', and ''The Oregonian''), former cable company Bright House Networks, and a controlling stake in Discovery Communications.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vogue.com/article/si-newhouse-obiturary|title=Si Newhouse Passes Away at Age 89|magazine=Vogue|date=October 2017|access-date=October 13, 2017}}</ref>
==Early life== He was the son of Mitzi (née Epstein) and Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr., the founder of Advance Publications.<ref>Staff. [https://www.nytimes.com/1979/08/30/archives/samuel-i-newhouse-publisher-dies-at-84-samuel-i-newhouse-builder-of.html "Samuel I. Newhouse, Publisher, Dies at 84; Samuel I. Newhouse, Builder of an Empire in Newspapers and Broadcasting, Is Dead at 84 Relatives on the Payroll Some Takeover Bids Resisted Newhouse Beneficiaries Payment on a Bad Debt Newhouse Publications and Broadcast Stations"], ''The New York Times'', August 30, 1979.</ref> Sam Newhouse Sr. had been the young editor of the ''Bayonne Times''. When he asked the owner of the Times for a raise he had long deserved, he was refused. Sam then quit the Times to become associated with the Staten Island paper that formed the basis of his publication future, the ''Staten Island Advance'' and Advance Publications, respectively. Newhouse attended the Horace Mann School in New York City.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/si-newhouse-jr-low-profile-media-mogul-of-high-profile-magazines-dies-at-89/2017/10/01/c75753a4-a6b3-11e7-850e-2bdd1236be5d_story.html|title=S.I. Newhouse Jr., low-profile publisher of high-profile magazines, dies at 89|last=Hajela|first=Deepti|date=1 October 2017|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> He later attended Syracuse University, but dropped out and began working at his father's newspapers.<ref name=":0" />
==Career== After dropping out of Syracuse University, Newhouse worked for the International News Service in Paris.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-si-newhouse-dead-20171001-story.html|title='Si' Newhouse, billionaire publisher of Vogue and GQ, dies at 89|last=Arnold|first=Laurence|website=chicagotribune.com|date=October 2017 |access-date=2019-10-18}}</ref> He served two years in the U.S. Air Force before going to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to oversee two of his father's daily newspapers.<ref name=":1" /> In 1964, he became publisher of the U.S. edition of ''Vogue''<ref name=":1" /> and in 1975, he took over as chairman of Condé Nast.<ref name="guardian" /> In 1985, he purchased ''The New Yorker''.<ref name="guardian" />
Prior to his death, he had an estimated net worth of $9.5 billion, and he was ranked the 46th richest American by ''Forbes'' in 2014.<ref name="Forbes">[https://www.forbes.com/profile/samuel-newhouse-jr/ Samuel Newhouse Jr. – Forbes] September 2015</ref>
Newhouse gave money to charity, including $15 million to Syracuse University in 1962.<ref>{{cite news |title=Separate School: Newhouse Unit Formed at SU |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66206563/ |access-date=28 December 2020 |work=The Post-Standard |date=5 June 1971 |pages=5 |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}}</ref> He was also an art collector,<ref>{{cite book|last=Felsenthal|first=Carol|title=Citizen Newhouse: Portrait of a Media Merchant|publisher=Seven Stories Press|year=1998|isbn=1-888363-87-8|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/citizennewhousep00fels}}</ref> who at one time owned one of the most valuable paintings in the world, a Jackson Pollock drip painting, ''No. 5, 1948''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/02/arts/design/02drip.html|work=The New York Times|title=A Pollock Is Sold, Possibly for a Record Price|first=Carol|last=Vogel|date=November 2, 2006}}</ref> Newhouse was listed by ''Art News'' as among the top 200 art collectors in the world.<ref>[http://www.artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=2702 Newhouse reference] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101025202954/http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=2702 |date=2010-10-25 }}, artnews.com; accessed October 13, 2017.</ref>. In May 2026 another painting from his private collection by Jackson Pollock, No. 7A, 1948 sold for $181m. This was a record for a Pollock painting and the fourth most expensive artwork sold at auction <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crkp777llgko|title=Jackson Pollock painting sells for record $181m at US auction|date=May 19, 2026|website=www.bbc.com}}</ref>
==Personal life and death== Newhouse was Jewish.<ref>{{cite news|title=Media titan Samuel 'Si' Newhouse is dead at 89|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/media-titan-samuel-si-newhouse-is-dead-at-89/|last=AP|website=The Times of Israel|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-31 |issn=0040-7909}}</ref> In 1951, he married Jane Franke, with whom he had three children: Samuel I. Newhouse III, Wynn Newhouse (1954–2010), and Pamela Newhouse Mensch.<ref name="guardian"/> Franke and Newhouse divorced in 1959, despite disapproval from his parents.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Citizen Newhouse |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/f/felsenthal-newhouse.html?_r=1&oref=slogin |access-date=2018-08-10 |website=archive.nytimes.com}}</ref> In 1973, Newhouse married Victoria Carrington Benedict de Ramel.<ref name="guardian" />
In 2006, Newhouse established the Wynn Newhouse Awards, an annual award program that provides grants to artists with disabilities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wynn Newhouse Awards |url=https://wnewhouseawards.com/ |access-date=2023-06-27 |website=wnewhouseawards.com}}</ref>
Newhouse's grandson, Samuel I. Newhouse IV, appeared in the documentary ''Born Rich''.<ref>Sam Dangremond, [http://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a9044077/ivanka-trump-in-born-rich-documentary "How Born Rich Launched Ivanka Trump and Burned Nearly Everyone Else"], ''Town and Country Magazine'', May 10, 2017.</ref>
Newhouse died on October 1, 2017, at the age of 89.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://money.cnn.com/2017/10/01/media/publisher-si-newhouse-dies-at-89/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001184758/http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/01/media/publisher-si-newhouse-dies-at-89/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 1, 2017|title=Magazine legend Si Newhouse, publisher of Vogue, dies at 89|first=Nathaniel|last=Meyersohn|website=cnn.com|date=October 2017|access-date=October 7, 2017}}</ref><ref name="guardian">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/oct/02/si-newhouse-obituary|title=Si Newhouse obituary|first=Veronica|last=Horwell|newspaper=The Guardian |date=October 2, 2017|access-date=October 7, 2017|via=theguardian.com}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Cite news |last1=Astor |first1=Maggie |last2=Ember |first2=Sydney |title='Today, We Lost a Giant': S. I. Newhouse, as Recalled by Colleagues |work=The New York Times |date=2017-10-01 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/01/business/media/si-newhouse-reactions-tributes.html |issn=0362-4331 |df=mdy-all }} * {{Cite news |last1=Ember |first1=Sydney |title=A Media Empire Loses Its King. What Now? |work=The New York Times |date=2017-10-01 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/01/business/conde-nast-si-newhouse.html |issn=0362-4331 |df=mdy-all }} *{{cite journal |last=Fishman |first=Steve |date= June 8, 2009 |title=Si Newhouse's Dream Factory |url= http://nymag.com/news/media/57076 |journal=New York |location=New York |publisher=New York Media }} * {{Cite news |last1=Kandell |first1=Jonathan |title=S.I. Newhouse Jr., Who Turned Condé Nast Into a Magazine Powerhouse, Dies at 89 |work=The New York Times |date=2017-10-01 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/01/obituaries/si-newhouse-dead.html |issn=0362-4331 |df=mdy-all }} * {{Cite news |last1=Koblin |first1=John |title=S.I. Newhouse Jr., Unlikely Savior of The New Yorker |work=The New York Times |date=2017-10-02 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/02/business/media/si-newhouse-jr-unlikely-savior-of-the-new-yorker.html |issn=0362-4331 |df=mdy-all }} *{{cite book |last=Maier |first= Thomas |author-link=Thomas Maier |date=1994 |title=Newhouse: All the Glitter, Power and Glory of America's Richest Media Empire and the Secretive Man Behind It |location=New York |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn= 0312114818 }} * {{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/20/business/media/20si.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all|work=The New York Times|title=Can Si Newhouse Keep Condé Nast's Gloss Going?|first=Richard|last=Pérez-Peña|date=July 20, 2008}}
{{refend}} ==External Links== *{{IMDb name| 1293985}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newhouse, Samuel Irving Jr.}} Category:1927 births Category:2017 deaths Category:American art collectors Category:American billionaires Category:American mass media owners Category:American newspaper publishers (people) Category:American Jews Category:American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Category:American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Category:Philanthropists from New York (state) Category:Condé Nast people Category:Horace Mann School alumni Category:Businesspeople from Manhattan Samuel Irving Jr. Category:20th-century American businesspeople