Suzanne Reinhardt
About Suzanne Reinhardt
Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer of Hearst Newspapers; appointed director of DallasNews Corporation at the closing of its merger with Hearst on September 24, 2025. She has 20+ years in media finance, previously holding senior roles at Condé Nast and Time Inc.; began her career at Ernst & Young, is a CPA, and holds an accounting degree from Binghamton University . Tenure on DALN’s board: since September 24, 2025 .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Committees/Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Condé Nast | Multiple senior finance and general management positions; SVP Finance for Global Revenue & Global Technology; COO, Fairchild Fashion Media | 16 years | Led digital transformations across brands |
| Time Inc. | High-level planning, finance, and operations roles; General Manager of Field & Stream and Outdoor Life | Not disclosed | General management oversight of legacy brands |
| Ernst & Young | Audit/assurance; earned CPA | Not disclosed | CPA credential; public company reporting experience |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Since | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hearst Newspapers | Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer | Not disclosed | Executive leader of finance; based at 300 W 57th St, New York (Hearst HQ) |
Board Governance
- Board composition: Post-merger board reduced to two directors—Jeffrey M. Johnson and Suzanne Reinhardt—per Amended and Restated Certificate of Formation .
- Appointment: Reinhardt appointed director at the effective time of the Hearst merger (Sept 24, 2025) .
- Independence: DALN’s 2025 proxy defined independence under Nasdaq and stricter internal standards; post-merger filings do not characterize independence. Given her executive role at Hearst (controlling parent), she would not meet typical “independent director” criteria; however, independence status is not explicitly stated post-merger .
- Committees: Pre-merger DALN operated Audit, Compensation & Management Development, and Nominating & Corporate Governance committees comprised of independent directors; post-merger committee structure is not disclosed. Prior committees met 4–5 times in 2024 and had 100% attendance by incumbents (pre-merger directors) .
- Lead Independent/Chair Roles: Pre-merger chair was independent (John A. Beckert); post-merger leadership structure not disclosed .
Fixed Compensation
- Director pay for Reinhardt post-merger is not disclosed. Context: For the 2024–2025 term (pre-merger), non-employee directors received a $105,000 cash annual retainer (paid quarterly); Chairman received an additional $15,000; no committee chair fees; no meeting fees; travel reimbursed; no equity awards outstanding for directors as of Dec 31, 2024 .
Performance Compensation
- No performance-linked director equity or option grants disclosed at DALN for 2024 (pre-merger policy indicated cash-only retainer for non-employee directors) .
- No performance metrics tied to director compensation disclosed for Reinhardt.
Other Directorships & Interlocks
| Company | Role | Since | Interlock/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| DallasNews Corporation | Director | Sep 24, 2025 | Appointed at Hearst merger effective time |
| Hearst Newspapers | SVP & CFO | Not disclosed | Executive of controlling parent; addresses listed for both directors at Hearst HQ |
- Interlocks: Board consists solely of Hearst executives (Johnson and Reinhardt) post-merger, indicating complete parent control at the subsidiary level .
Expertise & Qualifications
- CPA; Accounting degree (Binghamton University) .
- Deep media finance and transformation experience (Condé Nast, Time Inc.); operational leadership (COO, Fairchild Fashion Media) .
Equity Ownership
- Post-merger, DallasNews ceased trading and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Hearst Media West, LLC; public beneficial ownership reporting for DALN common stock ended (delisted and deregistered) .
- No DALN beneficial ownership data for Reinhardt disclosed in the 2025 proxy (she was not a director then) .
Governance Assessment
- Parent control: RED FLAG for independence—two-person board comprised entirely of Hearst executives (Johnson, Reinhardt) following the merger, reducing independent oversight at the subsidiary level .
- Committee structure opacity: Post-merger committee composition/charters not disclosed; pre-merger committees were fully independent and active; lack of disclosure limits visibility into risk, audit, and compensation oversight processes after the change in control .
- Attendance/engagement: Pre-merger board and committee attendance was 100% for incumbents in 2024; no post-merger attendance disclosure yet for the new board .
- Related-party transactions: Pre-merger proxy reported no related person transactions requiring disclosure; post-merger, the parent-subsidiary relationship inherently introduces potential conflicts, but specific related-party dealings are not disclosed .
- Compensation & alignment: No director compensation disclosure for Reinhardt; pre-merger DALN’s director pay was cash-only, with no equity—limited alignment via at-risk incentives for directors. Post-merger compensation approach is unknown .
- Control and delisting: DALN delisted and deregistered post-merger; the governance regime shifted from public-company transparency to parent-level control, reducing external investor oversight .
Overall signal: As CFO of Hearst Newspapers and a DALN director post-merger, Reinhardt’s role reflects parent-level operational oversight rather than independent governance. For public-market investors, the merger eliminated the need for independent board effectiveness analysis; for credit/corporate governance observers, the subsidiary’s board composition and lack of disclosed committee structures post-merger are key risk flags for independent oversight .