Donald Welsh

Who was Donald Welsh?

Donald Emory Welsh was a magazine publisher and entrepreneur.

Welsh studied at Columbia College and the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. After being admitted to the Ohio bar, he worked for the Cleveland Trust Company.

He soon moved on to the magazine business, starting at Fortune in the advertising department. From there, he moved to Rolling Stone, rising to the position of associate publisher. He went on to be the founding publisher of Outside, which was founded by Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner.

Welsh left Wenner to run the magazine division of another business group, where he focused largely on children's magazines. He created more than 20 magazines, based on well-known franchises such as Mickey Mouse and the Muppets. He bought the division from the group in 1987. He later sold the company, renamed to it Welsh Publishing Group, to Marvel Comics.

He was a co-founder, with Arthur Frommer, of Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, which was sold to Newsweek in 1999, one year after its foundation. He went on to found Budget Living magazine to critical acclaim, but not commercial success, winning the general excellence award from the American Society of Magazine Editors.