Maxim publisher departs after two years

Maxim Vice President and Publisher Kevin Martinez, who was lured from Condé Nast’s Details two years ago, is out at the lad mag monthly, the company confirmed on Thursday.

His last day was Jan. 29.

“We agree with Kevin that the right decision was to move on,” Maxim said in a statement.

Sardar Biglari, the chief executive of his namesake holding company, had taken over the title in February 2014 and later that year hired Kate Lanphear from the New York Times T magazine to bring a softer, more fashion-focused approach to the magazine.

But it did not seem to click with readers. Biglari forced Lanphear out last October, only seven months after her redesigned March issue hit newsstands.

Ironically, it had been Martinez who had begun showcasing a prototype for a second overhaul last fall shortly before Lanphear resigned.

Lanphear’s redesign did succeed in attracting more fashion ads and the title’s pre-tax loss shrank slightly in the first nine months of 2015, to $14,270,000 a year from $15,981,000 in the same year-ago nine-month period, according to company financial filings.

Revenues, largely from ads, nearly doubled to $17,750,000.

Despite investing in a higher grade of paper, newsstand sales were down.

Biglari has since installed himself as editor-in-chief and brought in veteran writer and editor Glenn O’Brien to be the editor-at-large.