Fast Company is a full-color not-quite-monthly (10 issues per year) business magazine that reports on innovation, digital media, technology, change management, leadership, design and social responsibility. It was launched in November 1995 by Alan Webber and Bill Taylor, two former Harvard Business Review editors. Fast Companys current editor is Bob Safian, a veteran of Fortune and Smart Money.
In 2000, Fast Company was sold to Gruner & Jahr USA, a division of media giant Bertelsmann, for $350 million. G&J sold it in 2005 and shortly thereafter exited the U.S. market.
The magazine and its website are now owned by Mansueto Ventures, a private media company controlled by Joe Mansueto, the founder and CEO of mutual fund rating company Morningstar, Inc.. Mansueto became a billionaire and joined the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans when Morningstar went public in 2005. Mansueto Ventures also owns Fast Companys sister publication, Inc. magazine, which is dedicated to covering growing businesses and entrepreneurs.
In 1997, Fast Company created an online social network, the "Company of Friends" which spawned a number of groups that began meeting in person.
FastCompany.com operates as a network of sites with Inc.com and is a member of the Online Publishers Association. The website features FC Now, which launched in 2002, and was one of the first staff-written blogs maintained by a print magazine.
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