Fast Company was launched in November 1995[2][3] by Alan Webber and Bill Taylor, two former Harvard Business Review editors, and publisher Mortimer Zuckerman.

[8] In 2000, Zuckerman sold Fast Company to Gruner + Jahr, majority owned by media giant Bertelsmann, for $550 million.

Under Byrne, the magazine won its first Gerald Loeb Award, the most prestigious honor in business journalism.

Mansueto, the only bidder who promised to keep Fast Company alive, ultimately won the contest, buying both magazine titles for $35 million.

[13] Stephanie Mehta was named editor-in-chief in February 2018,[14] having previously worked at Vanity Fair, Bloomberg, Fortune, and The Wall Street Journal.

[16][17] In 2024 the company won The Society Of Publication Designers (SPD) silver medal for its “World Changing Ideas” and six gold medals for its projects, including “Selena Gomez and the Meteoric Rise of Rare Beauty”, “YouTube’s Game Day”, “Brands That Matter”, “The Recommender Gift Guide”.