Jones Steps Down at People; Wallace Named to Top Spot

Publishing industry observers were startled Wednesday by the announcement that Landon Y. Jones Jr., the top editor of People magazine for more than seven years, is moving to a corporate position within Time Inc.

Jones, whose title is managing editor, will be succeeded by Carol Wallace, who has been deputy managing editor for three years and has presided over such annual franchises as the “50 Most Beautiful People” issue.

People has a weekly circulation of 3.4 million and last year led the industry with advertising revenues of $525.5 million. People, one of the most successful magazines in history, has annual profits estimated at $250 million.

Although the reason for Jones’ exit at this time was unclear, especially considering how well People is performing, his new job as Time Inc.’s vice president for strategic planning appears to be a natural extension of his entrepreneurial role in recent years.

Jones, 53, launched an Australian edition of People, tested and spun off the fast-growing InStyle magazine, and started the quarterly People en espan~ol. Wednesday’s announcement said Jones would work with Don Logan, Time Inc.’s president, and Norman Pearlstine, the editor in chief of Time Warner, in “identifying developmental opportunities of significant scale for Time Inc.”

People is the fifth magazine owned by Time Inc. to undergo an editorial shake-up since Pearlstine took over in January 1995.