Time ( magazine ) Time ( often written in all - caps as TIME ) is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City . It was founded in 1923 and for decades dominated by Henry Luce , who built a highly profitable stable of magazines . A European edition ( " Time Europe " , formerly known as " Time Atlantic " ) is published in London and also covers the Middle East , Africa and , since 2003 , Latin America . An Asian edition ( " Time Asia " ) is based in Hong Kong . The South Pacific edition , covering Australia , New Zealand and the Pacific Islands , is based in Sydney . In December 2008 , " Time " discontinued publishing a Canadian advertiser edition . " Time " has the world ' s largest circulation for a weekly news magazine , and has a readership of 25 million , 20 million of which are in the US . Richard Stengel has been the managing editor since May 2006 . History . " Time " magazine was created in 1923 by Briton Hadden and Henry Luce , making it the first weekly news magazine in the United States . TIME magazine is known in all - caps because the title is an acronym standing for The International Magazine of Events . The two co - founders had previously worked together as chairman and managing editor respectively of the " Yale Daily News " and considered calling the magazine " Facts " . Hadden was a rather carefree figure , who liked to tease Luce and saw " Time " as something important but also fun . That accounts for its tone , which many people still criticize as too light for serious news and more suited to its heavy coverage of celebrities ( including politicians ) , the entertainment industry , and pop culture . It set out to tell the news through people , and for many decades the magazine ' s cover was of a single person . The first issue of " Time " was published on March 3 , 1923 , featuring on its cover Joseph G . Cannon , the retired Speaker of the United States House of Representatives ; a facsimile reprint of Issue No . 1 , including all of the articles and advertisements contained in the original , was included with copies of the February 28 , 1938 issue as a commemoration of the magazine ' s 15th anniversary . On Hadden ' s death in 1929 , Luce became the dominant man at " Time " and a major figure in the history of 20th - century media . According to " Time Inc . : The Intimate History of a Publishing Enterprise 1972 – 2004 " by Robert Elson , " Roy Edward Larsen [ . . . ] was to play a role second only to Luce ' s in the development of Time Inc . " In his book , " The March of Time , 1935 – 1951 " , Raymond Fielding also noted that Larsen was " originally circulation manager and then general manager of " Time " , later publisher of " Life " , for many years president of Time Inc . , and in the long history of the corporation the most influential and important figure after Luce . " Around the time they were raising US $ 100 , 000 from wealthy Yale alumni like Henry P . Davison , partner of J . P . Morgan & Co . , publicity man Martin Egan and J . P . Morgan & Co . banker Dwight Morrow , Henry Luce and Briton Hadden hired Larsen in 1922 – although Larsen was a Harvard graduate and Luce and Hadden were Yale graduates . After Hadden died in 1929 , Larsen purchased 550 shares of Time Inc . , using money he obtained from selling RKO stock which he had inherited from his father , who was the head of the B . F . Keith theatre chain in New England . However , after Briton Hadden ' s death , the largest Time Inc . stockholder was Henry Luce , who ruled the media conglomerate in an autocratic fashion , " at his right hand was Larsen , " Time Inc . ' s second - largest stockholder , according to " Time Inc . : The Intimate History of a Publishing Enterprise 1923 – 1941 " . In 1929 , Roy Larsen was also named a Time Inc . director and a Time Inc . vice - president . J . P . Morgan retained a certain control through two directorates and a share of stocks , both over " Time " and " Fortune " . Other shareholders were Brown Brothers W . A . Harriman & Co . , and The New York Trust Company ( Standard Oil ) . By the time of Henry Luce ' s death in 1967 , the Time Inc . stock which Luce owned was worth about US $ 109 million and yielded him a yearly dividend income of more than US $ 2 . 4 million , according to " The World of Time Inc : The Intimate History of a Changing Enterprise 1957 – 1983 " by Curtis Prendergast . The value of the Larsen family ' s Time Inc . stock was now worth about $ 80 million during the 1960s and Roy Larsen was both a Time Inc . director and the chairman of its Executive Committee , before serving as Time Inc . ' s vice - chairman of the board until the middle of 1979 . According to the September 10 , 1979 issue of " The New York Times " , " Mr . Larsen was the only employee in the company ' s history given an exemption from its policy of mandatory retirement at age 65 . " After " Time " magazine began publishing its weekly issues in March 1923 , Roy Larsen was able to increase its circulation by utilizing U . S . radio and movie theaters around the world . It often promoted both " Time " magazine and U . S . political and corporate interests . According to " The March of Time " , as early as 1924 , Larsen had brought " Time " into the infant radio business with the broadcast of a 15 - minute sustaining quiz show entitled " Pop Question " which survived until 1925 . " Then , according to the same book , " In 1928 [ . . . ] Larsen undertook the weekly broadcast of a 10 - minute programme series of brief news summaries , drawn from current issues of " Time " magazine [ . . . ] which was originally broadcast over 33 stations throughout the United States . " Larsen next arranged for a 30 - minute radio program , " The March of Time " , to be broadcast over CBS , beginning on March 6 , 1931 . Each week , the program presented a dramatisation of the week ' s news for its listeners , thus " Time " magazine itself was brought " to the attention of millions previously unaware of its existence , " according to " Time Inc . : The Intimate History of a Publishing Enterprise 1923 – 1941 " , leading to an increased circulation of the magazine during the 1930s . Between 1931 and 1937 , Larsen ' s " The March of Time " radio program was broadcast over CBS radio and between 1937 and 1945 it was broadcast over NBC radio – except for the 1939 to 1941 period when it was not aired . " People Magazine " was based on " Time " ' s People page . " Time " became part of Time Warner in 1989 , along with Warner Bros . when Time , Inc . and Warner Communications merged . Jason McManus succeeded Henry Grunwald in 1988 as Editor - in - Chief and oversaw the transition before Norman Pearlstine succeeded him in 1995 . In 2000 , the magazine became part of AOL Time Warner , which reverted to the name Time Warner in 2003 . In 2007 , " Time " moved from a Monday subscription / newsstand delivery to a schedule where the magazine goes on sale Fridays , and is delivered to subscribers on Saturday . The magazine actually began in 1923 with Friday publication . During early 2007 , the year ' s first issue was delayed for roughly a week due to " editorial changes . " The changes included the job losses of 49 employees . In 2009 " Time " announced that they were introducing a personalized print magazine , " Mine " , mixing content from a range of Time Warner publications based on the reader ' s preferences . The new magazine met with a poor reception , with criticism that its focus was too broad to be truly personal . The magazine has an online archive with the unformatted text for every article published . The articles are indexed and were converted from scanned images using optical character recognition technology . There are still minor errors in the text that are remnants of the conversion into digital format . Time Inc . and Apple have come to an agreement wherein US subscribers to Time Inc . magazines will be able to read the iPad versions of those magazines for free , at least until the two companies sort out a viable digital subscription model . In January 2013 , Time Inc . announced that it would cut nearly 500 jobs – roughly 6 % of its 8 , 000 staff worldwide . Although " Time " magazine has maintained high sales , its ad pages have declined significantly over time . Legal controversy . On September 10 , 2007 , the Indonesian Supreme Court awarded former Indonesian President Suharto damages against " Time Asia " magazine , ordering it to pay him 1 trillion rupiah for libel . The High Court reversed the judgment of the Appeal Court and Central Jakarta District Court ( made in 2000 and 2001 ) . Suharto sought more than US $ 27 billion in the suit against US - based " Time " over a 1999 article which published that he transferred stolen money abroad . Circulation . During the second half of 2009 the magazine saw a 34 . 9 % decline in news stand sales . During the first half of 2010 , there was another decline of at least one third in " Time " magazine sales . In the second half of 2010 , " Time " magazine newsstand sales declined by about 12 % to just over 79 , 000 copies per week . Style . " Time " initially possessed a distinctive writing style , making regular use of inverted sentence s . This was parodied in 1936 by Wolcott Gibbs in an article in " The New Yorker " : " Backward ran sentences until reeled the mind [ . . . ] Where it all will end , knows God ! " Up until the mid - 1970s or so , " Time " had a weekly section called " Listings " , which contained capsule summaries and / or reviews of then - current significant films , plays , musicals , television programs , and literary bestsellers , much like " The New Yorker " ' s section " Current Events " . " Time " is also known for its signature red border , introduced in 1927 . The iconic red border was homaged or satirized by Seattle ' s " The Stranger " newspaper in 2010 . The border has only been changed four times since 1927 : The issue released shortly after the September 11 attacks on the United States featured a black border to symbolize mourning . However , this edition was a special " extra " edition published quickly for the breaking news of the event ; the next regularly scheduled issue contained the red border . Additionally , the April 28 , 2008 , Earth Day issue , dedicated to environmental issues , contained a green border . The next change in border was in the September 19 , 2011 issue , commemorating the 10th anniversary of September 11 attacks with a metallic silver border . The most recent change ( again with a silver border ) was in the December 31 , 2012 issue , noting Barack Obama ' s selection as Man of the Year . In 2007 , " Time " engineered a style overhaul of the magazine . Among other changes , the magazine reduced the red cover border in order to promote featured stories , enlarged column titles , reduced the number of featured stories , increased white space around articles , and accompanied opinion pieces with photographs of the writers . The changes have met both criticism and praise . Special editions . Person of the Year . " Time " s most famous feature throughout its history has been the annual " Person of the Year " ( formerly " Man of the Year " ) cover story , in which " Time " recognizes the individual or group of individuals who have had the biggest impact on news headlines over the past 12 months . The distinction is supposed to go to the person who , " for good or ill " , has most affected the course of the year ; it is therefore not necessarily an honor or a reward . In the past , such figures as Adolf Hitler , Franklin D . Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin have been Man of the Year . In 2006 the Person of the Year was designated as " You " , a move that was met with split reviews . Some thought the concept was creative ; others wanted an actual person of the year . Editor Stengel reflected that , if it had been a mistake , " we ' re only going to make it once . " " Time " 100 . In recent years " Time " has assembled an annual list of the 100 most influential people of the year . Originally , they had made a list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century . These issues usually have the front cover filled with pictures of people from the list and devote a substantial amount of space within the magazine to the 100 articles about each person on the list . There have , in some cases , been over 100 people , when two people have made the list together , sharing one spot . The magazine also compiled " All - " TIME " 100 best novels " and " All - " TIME " 100 best movies " lists in 2005 , and " The 100 Best TV Shows of All - " TIME " " in 2007 . " Time for Kids " . " Time for Kids " is a division magazine of " Time " that is especially published for children and is mainly distributed in classrooms . " TFK " contains some national news , a " Cartoon of the Week " , and a variety of articles concerning popular culture . An annual issue concerning the environment is distributed near the end of the U . S . school term . The publication rarely exceeds ten pages front and back . It is used in many libraries .