Patrick McCarthy just renewed his contract with Condé Nast for another three years, say several insiders. Since 1997, he’s been chairman and editorial director of Fairchild Publications, home of W, Women’s Wear Daily, Details, and Jane, running it as a style fiefdom along with co-regent CEO Mary Berner. This past fall, though, owner Si Newhouse merged Fairchild fully into Condé Nast. As one Fairchild exec put it, “Fairchild as a company doesn’t matter anymore.” On January 4, Berner announced she was quitting. Speculation was McCarthy would follow her out the door. But the dapper and apparently politically adept McCarthy has maintained the editorial control he held prior to the Condé Nast takeover. A spokesperson for Condé Nast said, “We do not comment on the contracts of our employees.”

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