Stefano Tonchi is suing for over $1 million, claiming they violated his contract
Photo: Jared Siskin/Patrick McMullan via Getty Image On Tuesday, news broke that W magazine was bought by Future Media Group, which owns Surface magazine. Style director Sara Moonves will be the new editor-in-chief, replacing Stefano Tonchi, who’s been with the magazine since 2010. According to a new lawsuit, surfaced Wednesday, his exit was not on good terms.
According to the Manhattan Supreme Court suit, Tonchi is claiming his contract included a severance equal to one year’s base salary, which for him was “in excess” of $800,000 at the time of his termination. The lawsuit is asking for “not less” than $950,000. He was also allegedly promised a “closing bonus” of at least $130,000 for remaining in his role through the sale.
The only reason Tonchi wouldn’t get his severance and closing bonus was if there was “cause” for his termination, or in this case: “conviction of a felony, abuse of office, intentional failure to perform material duties for which [he was] responsible, and/or a violation of any material term of [his] agreement.” The lawsuit claims that at approximately 8:05 a.m. on Tuesday — only one hour before W’s sale was announced at 9:00 a.m.
“Mr. Tonchi’s suit is patently false — Condé Nast has a long track record of honoring all our obligations and more. We look forward to defending the case in court,” a spokesman for the publisher told the Post. According to the Post, W magazine itself was bought for an amount ranging from $9 million to $10 million. If Tonchi gets what he’s asking for, he’ll walk away with about a tenth of that.
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