'WWD': Jim Kelly Ain't Out the Door Yet
When Lowdown Lloyd Grove reported Friday on Time chief Jim Kelly's impending departure from the job, there was only one unequivocal parameter on its timing. Kelly, Grove wrote, "will give up his post sometime after next month's black-tie Time 100 dinner." Undoubtedly that's true — unless Kelly goes running for the exits in the next seven days, he'll definitely leave his gig sometime after the dinner. But when? Lloyd hinted it could be as early as June. But in today's WWD, Jeff Bercovici and Sara James canvass the Time & Life Building and come to a different conclusion. "Several Time insiders," they report, say Kelly will stick around through at least the Congressional elections in November. Further, Kelly recently signed a multiyear deal with Time Inc., so they're confident he'll stick around the company someplace. And, finally, Bercovici and James speculate there'll be a not-insignificant interval before Kelly moves on if only because there isn't an obvious contender to take over — and the WWDers suspect that Time Inc. EIC John Huey will break with tradition and bring in someone from outside the company. OK, so: Who? Got any good guesses on the next editor of Time? Let us know.
