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Empire of the Elite

Inside Condé Nast, the media dynasty that reshaped the world

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About this listen

 'Michael Grynbaum chronicles the rise and fall of a media juggernaut, owner of glossy magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, the New Yorker and GQ, weaving tight reporting and outrageous gossip with a thoughtful cultural history.' FINANCIAL TIMES

'Glamour! Taste! Prestige! Monsters! I loved this gorgeous romp through a lost world' MARINA HYDE

For decades, one company in New York told the world what to buy, value, wear, eat, and even what to think.

From its glitzy heyday in the 1980s through to the 2000s, American publishing empire Condé Nast and its magazines - including Vogue, Vanity Fair, the New Yorker and GQ - defined how to live the good life, with its editors and writers creating a vision of luxury and sophistication that shaped cultural and consumer trends and political beliefs the world over.

The ultimate influencers, Condé Nast amassed great power but failed to foresee and keep up with the digital revolution that would reduce it to a shadow of its former self.

Full of fresh insider reporting and venerated names like Anna Wintour, Tina Brown and Graydon Carter, Empire of the Elite is a groundbreaking exploration of how Condé Nast established itself as a global authority. But it is also a cautionary tale, exposing how class, hubris and technological change shook the dominance of the old media gatekeepers, even as Condé Nast's aesthetic and prestige remain undeniably influential to this day.©2025 Michael M. Grynbaum Business Professionals & Academics Words, Language & Grammar Writing & Publishing New York

Critic reviews

"Glamour! Taste! Prestige! Monsters! I loved this gorgeous romp through a lost world, and the emperors and empresses who made it. Mike Grynbaum is the perfect smart and wry chronicler of that long age of haute hubris, which has been replaced with something a lot less spirited and fun. This book should be served with cocktails and a cackle." (Marina Hyde)
'A spyhole onto the end of a fabulous, doomed era. Glossy, glamorous, pure indulgence'
'As someone who grew up worshipping several Condé Nast titles and using them to become an adult, I've been waiting for a book like Empire of the Elite for decades. Michael Grynbaum does not disappoint. Every page is entertaining, smart, and generous toward the many players in this unique saga. Grynbaum also has a wicked sense of humour that made me grin and sometimes even helplessly laugh.'
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I have listened to hundreds of audiobooks and podcasts but this guy sounds like Mr Burns and tries too hard. You can hear in moments when he speaks normally which is so much better. Impossible to listen to properly and take in the content, which I’m sure is good. Shame the author didn’t continue reading after a great introduction

Awful narrator

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