Last September, The New York Times hired Sebastian Tomich and gave him a critical task: Help introduce the most controversial advertising product in the 165-year existence of the Gray Lady.
Just six years out of college, Tomich was making the career leap those in the media business dream about. As the newly minted vice president of advertising at the Times, he’d be reunited with his former boss at Forbes Media, Meredith Levien, who had been named executive vice president of advertising just two months prior. Hiring the duo wasn’t without risk. Though Forbes‘ native advertising platform had been financially successful, it had also come under some media scrutiny—from the Times and elsewhere.
