'Cosmopolitan' EIC Becomes First Hearst Chief Content Officer

Cosmopolitan editor-in-chief Joanna Coles has stepped aside to become the first chief content officer at parent company Hearst.

"I love Cosmo, but I gave it everything I had. I just didn't have another sex position in me," she told The New York Times. Coles has been editor-in-chief at Cosmopolitan since 2012 and in many ways became the face of the brand.

In her new role as Chief Content Officer, Coles will work with Hearst editors and oversee the company’s magazines, as well as identify new business opportunities and partnerships for the company.

Per the NYT, this means exploring areas like television and live events for opportunities to expand Hearst’s brands beyond print magazines and Web sites.

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Coles told the NYT she is leaving Cosmopolitan in a position of strength and is “really excited to do a bigger job.”

The magazine reached roughly 34 million people in July across print, digital and video, according to the Magazine Media 360 Brand Audience, up from 29.5 million at the end of 2014.

Coles will be succeeded by Michele Promaulayko, former editor-in-chief of Yahoo Health and Women's Health. Promaulayko has worked at Cosmopolitan before, from 2000 to 2008, as executive editor.

Promaulayko told WWD she hopes to build out new sections, including health, as well as “develop fluidity across platforms.”

She will also take on the role of editorial director of Seventeen, which currently has no editor-in-chief after the dismissal of Michelle Tan last month while she was on maternity leave.

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