Company History
Headquarters: Manhasset, New York
Parent Company: United Business Media (www.unitedbusinessmedia.com)
UBM LLC Highlights
Without question, Gerry and Lilo Leeds, the founders of CMP Media, fit to a “T" the classic business publishing success story. They started with a hunch: The electronics industry needed a newspaper that targeted specific job functions and in 1971, they launched Electronic Buyers’ News for purchasing managers. True to the pioneer paradigm, they started EBN in the living room of their home in Great Neck, New York.
They started with something else: a set of key principles that would guide their company and help it achieve immense success. Just two of those principles nearly sum up the Leeds philosophy: Be a great company to do business with. Be a great company to work for.
In 1997 CMP went public, and by 1999, the company employed 1,700 people who liked working there and chalked up annual sales of nearly half a billion dollars from customers who liked doing business with the Leeds. Perhaps one explanation for the Leeds’ determination and eventual breathtaking success dates back to 1939, when they fled Germany to escape persecution by the Nazis.
Grateful for their good fortune, the Leeds shared it with others, most significantly when they sold CMP to United Business Media in 1999. That year they gave each employee an unprecedented cash award: $4,000 for each year of service to the company and 20% of their most recent year’s salary. Total price tag for the Leeds’ generosity: $50 million.
It took a lot of building for the Leeds to get to that point, however. Just one year into their venture, in 1972 the Leeds launched one of their flagship publications, EE Times also for the electronics industry. As electronics gave way to technology, CMP started Computer Systems News for the computer industry, followed by Computer Reseller News, InformationWeek and others.
In 1988, a new generation of Leeds, sons Michael and Daniel, took over and immediately brought CMP to a new level. They launched TechWeb, the first online news source for IT news and information, and by 1996, CMP had evolved into much more than a publications company and they renamed it CMP Media.
In 2004, five years after the acquisition by United Business Media, CMP Media continued going global, launching InformationWeek China. In 2005, the company geared way up, fueling its online and event growth strategy with six acquisitions in six months.
Going global continues apace in 2006, with CMP and CyberMedia creating a global services portfolio in one of the hottest 21st century capitalist countries—India. Also in 2006, CMP’s SmallBizResource.com takes the company into the small office market, and the launch of Custom Events Group makes it a bigger player in the events arena.
At the end of February 2008, CMP Media became United Business Media LLC and four new divisions—Everything Channel, TechInsights, TechWeb and Think Services—were formed to focus tightly on their respective technology audiences and communities.
