Cigar Report Parent Company Shuts Down, Files For Bankruptcy

Doubledown Media LLC, which published Trader Monthly and other glossy magazines aimed at wealthy and aspiring Wall Street bankers and traders, has filed to liquidate under Chapter 7 of the U.S. bankruptcy code.

The closely-held company, which also published Cigar Report and website cigarreportdaily.com, Corporate Leader, Dealmaker and Private Air, on Wednesday filed for protection from creditors with the U.S. bankruptcy court in Manhattan.

Doubledown has between $10 million and $50 million of both assets and liabilities, the bankruptcy petition shows.

The company ceased operations after a key financial backer withdrew financing, President Randall Lane wrote in a memo obtained by Reuters on February 3.

“I cannot begin to convey how heartbroken we are,” Lane wrote. “These are unprecedented times: the combination of the media depression, the Wall Street implosion and the credit slowdown were collectively too much for our company — probably any company in our shoes — to overcome.”

Advertisers and business partners owe Doubledown a “substantial seven-figure sum,” he wrote, “but as with everyone else, payments to us have slowed precipitously, which in turn has crippled our ability to pay our bills on time.”

About a dozen organizations have expressed interest in buying some or all of Doubledown’s assets, Lane wrote.

Doubledown, based in New York, recently laid off more than a third of its staff, and reduced salaries for others.

One employee, who declined to be identified for fear of retribution from company executives, said some ad staff stopped receiving salary checks last year and were only getting sales commissions. Then ad sales dried up, along with the money.

Last year, the magazine said, Doubledown Chairman and top investor Jim Dunning gave the company a $300,000 loan to cover operating expenses. Folio Magazine said he had invested more than $3.5 million in the second half of 2008, for a total of $8 million.

According to a letter sent by Lane to investors in December, the company lost $3 million in 2008.

The demise of Doubledown comes as business and financial press are dealing with falling ad sales, particularly to publications that cater to financial professionals who are being laid off by the thousands worldwide.