Time Book, Magazine Chiefs in Job Swap

NEW YORK — The chief executives of Time Inc.’s magazine and book divisions will swap jobs in a move intended to “reinvigorate” both units, Time said Monday.

Kelso F. Sutton, 47, chief executive of Time’s magazine group, will become chief executive of the book publishing unit, the company said, while Reginald K. Brack Jr., 49, will take Sutton’s job.

The magazine unit is the nation’s largest, with 1985 revenue of about $1.5 billion. Time’s book publishing division was recently expanded with the acquisition of textbook publisher Scott, Foresman & Co., and is expected to report revenue of about $850 million this year.

About $200 million of that will be from the Scott, Foresman unit.

The swap, which is effective immediately, “is a reinvigorating experience that will enable both groups to enjoy fresh perspectives,” J. Richard Munro, Time chief executive, said in a statement.

Some analysts wondered about Sutton’s prospects after the magazine division’s difficulties with TV Cable Week, a television listings magazine that died in 1983 amid losses of $47 million.

But one year ago, he was promoted from executive vice president to president and chief executive of the magazine group. One analyst, Alan Gotteman of L. F. Rothschild, Unterberg, Towbin, noted that while Sutton has moved to the smaller unit, “there won’t be any lack of jobs to do, with the company taking over Scott, Foresman.” Brack, a 20-year veteran of Time’s magazine division, was founding publisher of Discover magazine, the general interest science periodical, in 1980. In 1982, Brack gave up that post at Discover to become president of Time-Life Books. Two years ago, he was named group vice president in charge of Time Inc.’s book publishing operations.