Condé Nast Names Elizabeth Herbst-Brady as Its New Chief Revenue Officer

Legacy media company Condé Nast—which houses iconic editorial titles including The New Yorker, Vogue, and Vanity Fair—hired veteran media executive Elizabeth Herbst-Brady as its new chief revenue officer, according to a spokesperson for the company.

Herbst-Brady will assume the role recently vacated by Pamela Drucker Mann, who had served as CRO since 2019 and left the company earlier this month. Herbst-Brady will officially begin with the company at the end of September.

“I’m thrilled and honored to join this incredible team and to be part of‬ Condé Nast’s exciting future,” Herbst-Brady said in a statement. “For decades, I’ve admired and have been an avid consumer of so many of the titles.‬‭ Today, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be than at the epicenter of such iconic brands that continue to define our culture.”

As part of the hire, Condé Nast will combine its commercial and consumer revenue divisions, which had previously existed as distinct operations. 

Drucker Mann led commercial revenue, and Glenn Eisen, acting global chief marketing officer and head of consumer revenue, led consumer. Going forward, Herbst-Brady will oversee both lines of business, with Eisen remaining as head of consumer but now reporting to Herbst-Brady.

Prior to joining Condé Nast, Herbst-Brady served as Yahoo’s CRO for four years, where she oversaw all lines of business and was the general manager of its demand-side platform. Yahoo has been privately held by private equity firm Apollo Global Management since September 2021, but Axios reported that the company generated $8 billion in top-line revenue in 2022.

Herbst-Brady also previously held executive roles at Snap, Viacom, Starcom Worldwide, Universal Television, and Fox. She has a bachelor of arts degree from Harvard University.

The executive joins Condé Nast at a critical juncture for the organization, which underwent a protracted round of layoffs at the beginning of the year. 

The privately held company has reportedly grown revenue for the past three years and is break-even commercially. However, it has not provided financial specifics since 2021, when it generated $2 billion in top-line revenue.

Looking forward

At the Condé Nast upfront presentation this May, Drucker Mann emphasized the importance of live events and video as central to the growth of the company. 

The media firm hired Katie Drummond in August as editor in chief of Wired, part of a broader plan to invest further in the title, and it hosted its third iteration of Vogue World in June, this time in Paris. Last October, it reorganized its Condé Nast Entertainment division, placing digital video efforts under the direction of individual brands.

The company, with a portfolio including 17 different editorial titles, has yet to fully find its footing in the digital era—a challenge it shares with most media firms. Under Herbst-Brady, whose experience spans the worlds of technology and entertainment, it undoubtedly hopes to find it.

“As someone who thrives in the rapidly evolving sectors of media and technology, Elizabeth is perfect for Condé Nast‬ and the opportunities that stand before us,” said‬‭ Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch‬‭ in a statement. “She has the foresight and fortitude to meet the moment and will undoubtedly drive new revenue growth opportunities‬‭ to support the expansion of our titles so that we can reach even larger audiences.”