International Data Group

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International Data Group
Founded1964; 58 years ago (1964)
FoundersPatrick Joseph McGovern
Headquarters
Needham, Massachusetts
,
United States
Area served
Worldwide
OwnerThe Blackstone Group
Websiteidginc.com

International Data Group (IDG)[1] is a media, events and research company headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts, United States focused on technology founded in 1964.[2] It is wholly owned by Blackstone.[3] It is made up of International Data Corporation (IDC) and Foundry (formerly IDG Communications).[4]

History[edit]

International Data Corporation was founded in 1964 by Patrick Joseph McGovern, who sold his car to fund its startup. Based in Massachusetts, the company produced a computer installation data base, and published a newsletter, "EDP Industry and Market Report" (modeled on "ADP Newsletter"), which was published by The Diebold Group. Companies such as RCA, Univac, Xerox, and Burroughs paid IDC for use of the data base. During this time, McGovern continued to work as a writer for "Computers and Automation" magazine, the first computer magazine, published by Edmund Berkeley.

By its third year, the company had an income of $154,996. A modest net profit of $2,961.[5] McGovern was considering liquidating the company when he hit on the idea of launching Computerworld in 1967, which was a continuation of the monthly newsletter, published weekly instead of monthly, in a different format, with advertising, which became a cornerstone of IDG's subsequent publishing arm.[5] McGovern subsequently founded PC World.

IDG Books, which was a public company spun off from the privately held IDG, published the popular self-help "...For Dummies" books. The "...For Dummies" range was originally limited to computer related fields, but later expanded to include a much wider variety of topics.[6] The series is now published by John Wiley & Sons.[7] IDG Books/Hungry Minds — as IDG Books was briefly renamed before being sold to Wiley in 2001, it no longer exists as a separate company.[6] In 2010, IDG introduced the "Nanosite", an advertising tool designed as an alternative to a microsite.[8]

Following McGovern's death in March 2014, ownership of the corporation passed to the McGovern Foundation, with several layoffs occurring as a result.[9] In January 2017, following IDG's announcement that it was searching for a buyer, it was acquired by China Oceanwide Holdings Group.[9][10][11][12] Later that year a second round of layoffs occurred, including up to ninety editors and writers from IDG's consumer and enterprise publications.[13] In August 2019, Mohamad Ali was named as Global CEO of IDG. Prior to joining IDG, Ali held the positions of President and CEO of Carbonite and Chief Strategy Officer of Hewlett-Packard.[14]

In February 2020, IDG discontinued Webwereld. In June 2020, IDG retired their JavaWorld brand, migrating its content to InfoWorld.[15]

In May 2021, The Blackstone Group acquired IDG from China Oceanwide Holdings Group for $1.3 billion. [16]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Glenn Rifkin (April 21, 1997). "At International Data Group, Diversification Strategy Is Key". The New York Times.
  2. ^ "Future Forward - Leadership Lessons from Patrick McGovern". FutureForward. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
  3. ^ www.bizjournals.com https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2021/06/03/blackstone-to-acquire-idg.html. Retrieved 2021-06-07. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ^ Foundry (2022-02-17). "After Nearly 60 Years, IDG Communications Becomes Foundry". GlobeNewswire News Room. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  5. ^ a b "International Data Group, Inc. History". Funding Universe. Funding Universe. 1999. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  6. ^ a b ""For Dummies" titles". New York Times. September 24, 2006.
  7. ^ "For Dummies". The New York Times. August 13, 2001.
  8. ^ Griffin, Marie (December 16, 2010). "IDG Introduces The Nanosite: A Microsite Contained Within An Ad Unit". AdAge. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  9. ^ a b Seave, Ava. "Tech Publisher IDG Transforming Itself From Within As It Braces For Sale Or Breakup". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2016-12-21. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
  10. ^ PRNewswire (March 30, 2017). "China Oceanwide Completes Acquisition of IDG". idg.com. IDG. Archived from the original on 2017-11-06. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  11. ^ Carew, Rick (January 19, 2017). "China Oceanwide Consortium Clinches Deal to Buy International Data Group". wsj.com. The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2017-01-21. Retrieved January 22, 2017. ...one of the first global venture capital investors in China.
  12. ^ Gross, Grant (2017-03-29). "China Oceanwide completes its purchase of IDG". PC World. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  13. ^ "The Register on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
  14. ^ "Mohamad Ali Named New CEO of International Data Group". 30 July 2019.
  15. ^ "Wayback Machine – https://www.javaworld.com".
  16. ^ Miller, Ron (June 3, 2021). "Blackstone acquires tech publisher IDG for $1.3B, as private equity strikes again". TechCrunch. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
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