U.S. News & World Report history

In 1945 Lawrence founded World Report to treat world news as United States News treated domestic news.

Following the end of World War II, Lawrence founded a new magazine in 1946 called World Report, which covered international affairs.

In 1962 USN&WR became an employee-owned company, developing a family atmosphere for its workforce.

Less than ten years earlier, in 1975, an employee retired and sold his stock back to the company for $65 a share.

In 1980 shares were valued at $152 a share.

In 1981 USN&WR entered into a $200 million joint venture with Boston Properties, Inc. to develop 3.5 acres of land it owned in Washington, D.C. The land had been acquired by founder David Lawrence.

In December 1983 an unidentified bidder offered $100 million to purchase the magazine, four times the appraised equity value of the outstanding shares.

In July 1986 Michael Ruby was named to the new position of executive editor to assist Gergen.

While the United States District judge’s opinion on a pretrial motion indicated he thought some defendants may have run afoul of legal requirements, in June 1987 he ruled the company’s directors acted “in an entirely appropriate manner” and the appraisals were “perfectly reasonable and acceptable.”

In August 1988 senior writer Roger Rosenblatt was named to replace David Gergen as editor.

In May 1991 USN&WR launched a new magazine, Family Fun, in association with Jake Winebaum, a former senior executive.Family Fun was aimed at parents with children from ages 3 to 15 and focused on family activities such as vacations, entertainment, and at-home education.

In 1992 USN&WR beat Time and Newsweek for the most ad pages for the year; USN&WR had 2,170 ad pages compared to 2,100 each for Time and Newsweek.

In 1993 USN&WR celebrated its 60th anniversary.

In 1994 USN&WR had created a new video and multimedia production division, United States News New Vision.

Capitalizing on the reputation of its popular annual guide to colleges, USN&WR in 1995 launched its first CD-ROM product, The United States News Complete College Adviser.

USN&WR's Colleges and Careers Center web site was introduced in January 1997.

In October 1998 Drasner relinquished his CEO title and was succeeded by Daily News associate publisher Ira Ellenthal, who was also named group publisher for USN&WR, Atlantic Monthly, and Fast Company.

In November 1999, COO Kimberly Jensen was questioned about missing company funds, which CEO Ira Ellenthal believed were used to cover Jensen’s personal expenses and finance the management of a rock band she represented.

Also in 2000, Zuckerman sold Fast Company to Gruner + Jahr for $350 million.

The magazine ran more feature articles such as “The Adoption Maze,” “Secrets of the Stutter,” and “Alcohol and the Brain” in 2001.

In September 2002 USN&WR and Zuckerman angered President George W. Bush and his wife when the magazine printed a cover story about the Secret Service, mentioning a pull-back of security coverage for the Bushes’ 20-year-old twin daughters.

Circulation in 2003 was 2 million for USN&WR, compared with Time ’s 4.1 million and Newsweek ’s 3.2 million.

In an interview with MediaWeek (June 25, 2007), Kelly explained the magazine’s plans to continue its rankings service, expanding to children’s hospitals and consumer products.

Starting in June 2008, the magazine reduced its publication frequency in three steps.

The company returned to profitability in 2013.

Ranked in 2021, part of Best Social Sciences and Humanities Schools