William Bernard Ziff, Jr.

William Bernard Ziff Jr.
William Bernard Ziff Jr. in 2002
Born	(1930-06-24)June 24, 1930
Died	September 6, 2006(2006-09-06) (aged 76) Pawling, New York, US
Nationality	United States
Education	B.A. Rutgers University
Occupation	businessman
Known for	CEO of Ziff Davis Inc.
Spouse(s)	Barbara Ingrid Beitz (divorced) Tamsen Ann Kojis
Children	with Beitz: --Dirk Edward Ziff --Robert D. Ziff --Daniel M. Ziff
Parent(s)	William Bernard Ziff Sr.

William Bernard Ziff Jr. (June 24, 1930 – September 9, 2006) was an American publishing executive. His father, William Bernard Ziff Sr., was the co-founder of Ziff Davis Inc. and when the elder Ziff died in 1953, Ziff took over the management of the company. After buying out partner Bernard G. Davis, he led Ziff Davis to become the most successful publisher of technology magazines in the 1970s and 1980s.

He was born on June 24, 1930 to William Bernard Ziff Sr., a Jewish American publishing executive, author, and vocal proponent of Revisionist Zionism. He was mostly raised in Miami and then moved with his family to Sarasota in 1947. He graduated from Rutgers University in 1951 and then went to study philosophy in West Germany. In 1953, after the death of his father, he moved to New York City to take command of Ziff Davis Inc. One of his first moves after taking his father's place was buying out co-founder Bernard Davis who sold Ziff his share to start his own publishing company. Ziff re-directed the company toward enthusiast magazines and trade publications with the acquisition of such titles as Car and Driver, Popular Electronics, PC Magazine, World Aviation Directory and Computer Shopper.

By focusing on specialist/enthusiast publications, Ziff's salesmen were able to directly target advertisers who wanted to market to a specific audience. His approach was very successful: manufacturers and retailers were eager to advertise in his magazines at a time when general-interest publications were largely suffering from declining advertising sales.