He painted a picture of a "failed e-commerce attempt" that accelerated the decline of F+W's publishing business and ultimately enveloped the company in chaos. As a result of ongoing declines in revenue, F+W increased borrowing. (The private-equity firm Tinicum acquired a majority stake in F+W in 2014, largely driven by the success of F+W's ecommerce strategy.) Chad Phelps, the chief digital officer at F+W under Nussbaum, also disputes Osberg's assessment. In fact, according to Phelps, in 2014 F+W ecommerce revenue was $62 million, and tracking to about $60 million for 2015 when he left.

Source: Forbes March 12, 2019 18:56 UTC