Publisher of Strapped Entrepreneur Resigns

Entrepreneur Magazine publisher Clare N. Thain resigned last week, Entrepreneur Chairman Peter Shea said Tuesday, and his duties at the cash-strapped publication will be assumed by Shea and Associate Publisher James L. Fitzpatrick.

Shea also said he had turned down a joint-venture deal with Omni Group, a New York-based publishing arm of the Swiss company Omni Holdings. He said talks were continuing with other possible overseas investors whom he declined to identify.

Entrepreneur has also laid off six people, including three marketing employees and three clerical workers, Shea said. The company now employs 61 full-time workers.

“I’ve gotten more involved in the day-to-day operations, and we looked at the overhead and decided we were a little top-heavy,” Shea said in explaining Thain’s departure.

But Thain said Tuesday that he left because of a disagreement over “the direction the magazine was taking.” He declined further comment.

Shea said the cutbacks would not affect growth at Entrepreneur and the company’s two other publications, New Business Opportunities and the recently launched Entrepreneurial Woman.

Shea acknowledged earlier this month that fast-growing Entrepreneur had encountered some cash-flow problems and that it was late in paying more than $1 million owed to three suppliers. But he denied that the cash pinch threatened the company’s future. Shea said Tuesday that about $500,000 of the outstanding bills had been paid off in the last several weeks. “We’re within 60 days on all our payments,” he said. “Our creditors are happy.”

The creditors, including World Color Press of Los Angeles, Corinthian Communications of Corona del Mar and Horizon Paper Co. of New York, have declined comment on the situation.

Although Shea has said that the company can continue to grow without a cash infusion from a partner, some analysts view the fact that he is in talks about possible joint ventures as an indication that the firm’s problems are serious.