Young Gay Entrepreneur Superstar Buys New Republic

Chris Hughes who co-founded Facebook and ran the online organization for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign recently became the new owner of The New Republic magazine, the New York Times reported.

Hughes, 28, told the paper he plans to bring the magazine into the 21st century by distributing its content through Apple's iPad and other similar technologies. He claims the he will not end the printed version of the publication but says in, "five to 10 years from now, if not sooner, the vast majority of The New Republic readers are likely to be reading it on a tablet."

The young businessman will become The New Republic's publisher as well as the editor-in-chief and Richard Just will remain the editor. The former editor-in-chief, Martin Peretz, will become a member of the magazine's advisory board.

Hughes said he bought the magazine because he was interested in "the future of high-quality long-form journalism" and that he had a hunch that journalism would work well on tablets. He added that he would "expand the amount of rigorous reporting and solid analysis" that the publication makes.

The move will allow Just to hire more writers and editors. Just says it has been years since the staff has consisted of more than 29 employees.

Hughes was a roommate of Facebook's leader Mark Zuckerberg when they attended Harvard. After helping him start the social media super-website, Hughes helped Obama's online presidential campaign and Fast Company magazine published a story about him with the headline, "The Kid Who Made Obama President; How Facebook Cofounder Chris Hughes Unleashed Barack's Base - and Changed Politics and Marketing Forever." Hughes is engaged to Sean Eldridge -- an investor and political activist and a senior advisor at Freedom to Marry, an organization that campaigns for marriage equality in the U.S.