In 1999, Bradley purchased "The Atlantic" from publisher and real estate tycoon Mort Zuckerman for $10 million. Bradley replaced editor William Whitworth with Kelly. Bradley's strategy to improve the business model of "The Atlantic", which had lost money for years, was to focus on improving editorial quality. Bradley doubled the newsroom budget of "The Atlantic", allowing the magazine to embark on a hiring spree, offering contracts to 25 new writers. Kelly's first hire was to bring back James Fallows, one of the magazine's best-known journalists, who had been hired away in 1996.