Media Career
Having later married John MacBain, the two acquired Auto Hebdo, a classified car trading magazine, in 1987. The business grew into Trader Classified Media, which acquired around 400 classified-advertisement publications and – as an early adopter of the internet – 60 websites over the next ten years in over 20 companies, with sales rising from $2m to $400m, and focus expanding from cars to include boats, real estate and jobs. As Chairman and CEO of Trader Classified Media for over 15 years, Louise Blouin and her management team and over 5,000 employees, was able to turn around over 80 companies. At Trader, Blouin had launched 60 magazines and compiled over 400 publications internationally, which yielded 9 million readers per week.
Hebdo changed its name to Trader.com NV in 2000 after holding IPOs on NASDAQ and the Paris Premier Marché. It continued an acquisition spree that impacted its operating profits for two years, before becoming profitable in 2002. Blouin however, had exited the company in 2000 and not long thereafter divorced her second husband.
She later became CEO of international auction house Phillips, de Pury & Luxembourg, resigning the position after a year, before setting up Louise Blouin Media in 2003, and moving into art publications, acquiring Art+Auction, Gallery Guide, Museums, Culture+Travel, and Modern Painters within three years. She also founded ARTINFO (www.artinfo.com), an online portal for access to the world of arts and culture.
Blouin has also had some negative press. An article in the New York Post noted some controversy over payments to freelance writers for her company's arts publications. One group, WAAANKAA (Writers Angry At Artinfo Not Kidding Around Anymore), has demanded back payments of $18,000 .
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