Juliana Stock Leaves A+E to Lead Hearst Magazines From Jan. 2027

Juliana Stock will become president of Hearst Magazines on Jan. 1, 2027, leaving her role as president of marketing and digital at A+E Global Media after more than a decade at the cable group.

The appointment, announced by Hearst, triggers a leadership reshuffle: Debi Chirichella, president of Hearst Magazines since 2020, moves up to chair of the group. Both Stock and Chirichella will report jointly to Steven R. Swartz, Hearst's president and chief executive officer, and Jordan Wertlieb, EVP and COO.

What does Stock actually inherit?

Hearst Magazines is one of the largest publishing operations in the business. The portfolio includes:

• More than 30 U.S. brands, among them Cosmopolitan, Elle, Esquire, Harper's Bazaar and Good Housekeeping
• 175 websites
• More than 200 magazine editions worldwide

For Stock, the move is a homecoming. Before A+E, she spent 11 years at Condé Nast, most recently as senior director of business and product development, where she helped launch the first websites and iOS magazine apps for Wired, GQ, Vanity Fair and others. She joined A+E Global Media in 2013 and held senior roles including chief marketing and brand officer.

Why a TV executive for a magazine company?

Hearst has been deliberately recruiting from television. This summer it named Chris Berend, formerly chief digital officer of the NBCUniversal News Group, as chief content and experience officer of Hearst Magazines. Stock is the second TV veteran tapped for a top job — a signal that Hearst sees streaming-era audience skills, not legacy print pedigree, as the core requirement.

Her A+E track record explains the logic. Promoted to president of marketing and digital in 2025, she ran trade and global consumer marketing, digital strategy and audience engagement across a network portfolio including A&E, History, Lifetime, FYI and LMN. The company credits her with reshaping marketing around what it calls "audience-first strategies."

On the digital side, she oversaw the entire A+E ecosystem: the relaunch of History.com, the scaling of direct-to-consumer subscription products (History Vault, Lifetime Movie Club, A&E Crime Central) and audience growth across social platforms and YouTube. That mix — brand stewardship plus direct-to-consumer revenue — maps closely onto what legacy magazine houses now need.

What the executives said

"We welcome Juliana back to the magazine business after more than a decade of leadership positions across digital video, marketing and general management at our A+E Networks," Swartz said in a statement. "With Debi's help, she will build on our great brands and great people to lead the next phase of growth in this business in which we have enjoyed a leadership position for more than 100 years."

Stock framed the job as both continuity and expansion. "Hearst Magazines sets the standard for lifestyle journalism, and I'm honored to join a group with such powerful brands and such a talented team," she said in a statement provided by the company. "Audiences are engaging with our content in more ways than ever, including digitally, and there's a real opportunity to deepen those connections while continuing to deliver the trusted, high-quality print experiences our readers love."

What does this change for readers?

Little in the short term — the transition doesn't take effect until 2027, and Chirichella stays on as chair. The real test comes later: whether Stock can translate A+E's direct-to-consumer playbook (subscription streaming products and platform-audience growth) to a 200-edition print empire whose digital future she now owns.