Thomas Heath profiles The Kiplinger Washington Editors, a “a family-owned, mission-driven journalism company surviving in an industry upended by the digital age.”
For several years starting in 2008, Kiplinger lost money for the first time.
It responded by eliminating dividends to Kiplinger family share owners. It froze salaries, starting with top managers; then came pay cuts. There was a modest downsizing through attrition and what Kiplinger called “compassionate termination,” which included severance pay and job counseling.
“The pain starts at the top,” he said.
Slowly, the company came out of the red and is now modestly profitable.
“We’re not wildly profitable, but we’re profitable,” Kiplinger says. “Compared to the carnage of the Great Recession, this is wonderful.”
