I don't know much about Time magazine as I feel like I'm too young to have really ever read it. I'm 34, but I recall when I was much younger seeing them at doctor's offices and the like, they seemed too serious or grown up for me to really care about, but they seemed like they were the real deal respectable magazine. I think I once read an article about Putin in one at my dentist in high school which seemed semi interesting but perhaps slightly above my level of care or knowledge of the world at the time.

The other thing people know Time for is that everyone wants to have their face on the cover, that's when you know you made it or you are famous. It was even in like every tv show, movie or whatever, a photoshopped version of Time with someone's face on it. I feel like, what is the equivalent of that today? Sure there are millions of outlets, but not too many seem to have that kind of authority, notoriety or brand around them. Even if Time's decisions were total BS and their quality declined because of the industry, that "meme" is still in people's head and it still probably holds value if someone can appear on the cover or said they did. Now Benioff can do this at will if he wants and can even live that dream himself (if he never was on the cover, I don't know)! That alone seems like its worth it considering the fortune someone like Benioff has. Any of his friends who need a boost of influence can walk over to him and ask for a favour, and boom, now they are on the cover of what to the uncaring eye seems like a still prestigious and noteworthy magazine or more likely are endorsed by a brand which may have become a shell of what it once was, but most people haven't really ever put the thought in to realize that because they never read it in the first place.