Editing Reader's Digest (section)

===Business organization and ownership===

In 1990, the magazine's parent company, [[The Reader's Digest Association, Inc.]] (RDA), became a publicly traded corporation. From 2005 through 2010, RDA reported a net loss each year.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000858558&type=&dateb=&owner=exclude&count=100 |publisher= Securities and Exchange Commission |title= Filings for Reader's<!-- "Readers" in original --> Digest Association, Inc. |work= EDGAR System |access-date=2013-02-21}}</ref>

In March 2007, [[Ripplewood Holdings]] LLC led a consortium of [[private-equity]] investors who bought the company through a leveraged buyout for US$2.8 billion, financed primarily by the issuance of US$2.2 billion of debt.<ref name= "NYT-Segal-2009-12-20"/><ref name="NYT-18Jun09">{{cite news |title= Reader's Digest Searches for a Contemporary Niche |work= The New York Times |date= June 18, 2009 |first= Stephanie |last=  Clifford |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/19/business/media/19readers.html?_r=1}}</ref> Ripplewood invested $275 million of its own money, and had partners including Rothschild Bank of Zürich and GoldenTree Asset Management of New York. The private-equity deal tripled the association's interest payments, to $148 million a year.<ref name= "NYT-Segal-2009-12-20"/>

On August 24, 2009, RDA announced it had filed with the US Bankruptcy court an arranged [[Chapter 11 bankruptcy]] to continue operations, and to restructure the US$2.2 billion debt undertaken by the leveraged buyout transaction.<ref name= "NYT-Segal-2009-12-20">{{Cite news|author= David Segal |date= December 20, 2009|work=The New York Times|title= A Reader's Digest That Grandma Never Dreamed Of|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/business/media/20digest.html|access-date=2009-12-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=71092&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1321364&highlight=|title=Reader's Digest Association, Inc. - News Release|date=March 26, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150326185429/http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=71092&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1321364&highlight= |archive-date=March 26, 2015 }}</ref><ref name="NYT-dealbook-2009-08-17">{{cite news|url=http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/17/readers-digest-plans-chapter-11-filing/?hpw|work=The New York Times|title=Reader's Digest Plans Chapter 11 Filing|date=August 17, 2009|access-date=2010-05-22}}</ref> The company emerged from bankruptcy with the lenders exchanging debt for equity, and Ripplewood's entire equity investment was extinguished.<ref name= "NYT-Segal-2009-12-20"/>

In April 2010, the UK arm was [[management buyout|sold to its management]]. It has a licensing deal with the US company to continue publishing the UK edition.<ref>{{cite news |author=Kevin Reed|url= http://www.accountancyage.com/accountancyage/news/2261116/moore-stephens-sells-reader|title=Moore Stephens Sells Reader's Digest to Jon Moulton Business|work=Accountancy Age|date= April 12, 2010}}</ref> The closure of the UK edition was announced in April 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 30, 2024 |title=Reader's Digest UK closes due to 'unforgiving' magazine landscape |url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/magazines/readers-digest-uk-closure/ |website=Press Gazette}}</ref>

On February 17, 2013, RDA Holding filed for bankruptcy a second time.<ref>{{cite news|author=Michael J. De La Merced|url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/02/18/readers-digest-files-for-bankruptcy-again/|title=Reader's Digest Files for Bankruptcy, Again|work=The New York Times|date= February 18, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/20/opinion/sharp-readers-digest/index.html|title=Rise and fall of Reader's Digest |author=Joanne Sharp |website=CNN|date=February 20, 2013|access-date=2017-06-01}}</ref> The company was purchased for £1 by Mike Luckwell, a venture capitalist and once the biggest shareholder in [[WPP plc]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44250900 |title=Yours for a pound: The firms sold on the cheap|website=BBC News |date=25 May 2018  |access-date= 25 May 2018}}</ref>