Billionaire computer magazine publisher Patrick McGovern dies

The death of Patrick McGovern on Wednesday, at the age of 76, marks the end of a man who built a remarkable publishing fortune as founder and chairman of the International Data Group. According to a posting by Forbes.com, IDG publishes 200 magazines, operates 460 websites and produced 700 events in 79 countries. The company published magazines such as Macworld, PC World, GamePro, Computerworld, CIO, Network World, InfoWorld and the ubiquitous line of ...for Dummies books.

McGovern is said to have been worth $5.7 billion, ranking 244 on the list the world's billionaires published by Forbes magazine.

He founded IDG after paying his way through school by working on the first U.S. computer magazine, Computers and Animation. He founded IDG five years later by selling his car for $5,000. His first inspiration was to persuade big computer makers such as Xerox, Burroughes and Univac (hark back to those names!) to pay him to conduct a census of computers around the U.S.

IDG grew to $3.55 billion in annual sales and McGovern retained an 84% stake in the company until his death. Among other legacies, he and his wife Lore gave $350 million to create and fund the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT.