Henry Robinson Luce

The last of the old-time press Barons, Henry Robinson Luce (April 3, 1898 – February 28, 1967) was born in China where his parents serving as Presbyterian missionaries. With a Yale classmate, Briton Hadden, Luce started Time magazine.

He spent nearly all of his youth in China – the family fled to Korea during the Boxer Rebellion and he spent a year in the United Sates as a young boy – where he imbibed his parent’s missionary ethic of service and education.

Time Inc. was founded in 1922 with a small share subscription of USD$85, 675 in order to publish a newly created magazine called Time.

Time Inc. was incorporated on November 28, 1922. Time was the first weekly news magazine of its kind. It was launched in 1923, proved enormously successful because it was the first publication to give comprehensive, of superficial, commentary on national and international news every week.

In 1930, Luce started Fortune magazine. Time Inc. enjoyed continuing financial success during the 1930s, despite launching Fortune magazine four months after the stock market crash. The company added Life to its Fortune and Time magazine roster in 1936.

After earning a fortune from these media enterprises, Luce formed the foundation in honor of his parents and to support projects in education, policy and theology.
Henry Robinson Luce