James Murdoch buys Vox Media’s New York Magazine, podcasts for USD300m
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The news: James Murdoch has agreed to acquire three major divisions of Vox Media for more than USD300 million ($419 million), in the biggest deal for the younger son of Rupert Murdoch since he cashed out of the family’s empire last year.
The deal includes The New York Magazine, Vox.com and the Vox Media Podcast Network, the company said in a statement. Sources familiar with the matter told media including The New York Times and Reuters the transaction was worth more than USD300 million.
The transaction, executed through Murdoch’s media and technology holding company Lupa Systems, gives him control of New York Magazine and its affiliated titles The Cut, Vulture and Intelligencer, which together claim a digital audience of tens of millions and more than 400,000 paying subscribers. It also includes a podcast network of nearly 50 shows including Pivot with Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway.
The deal was announced on Wednesday US time, hours after New York Magazine took out two National Magazine Awards the previous evening. The prizes, awarded by the American Society of Magazine Editors, included general excellence, the night’s top honour.
Vox Media will be split into two independent companies. The Verge, Eater, Popsugar, SB Nation and The Dodo are excluded from the Murdoch’s deal, and will form a new independent company led by Ryan Pauley.
What they said: “We want to create platforms where really amazing, talented people can come and do the best work of their lives,” Murdoch told the Times.
The deal, “will allow us to apply new tools across the businesses we are building, adding substantial production, distribution, and editorial capability to our group,” he said.
Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff will join Lupa Systems and continue to lead the acquired brands.
He told the NYT he “wanted a long-term steward” who cared about innovation and “quality and ethics in journalism.”
“James and Kathryn Murdoch understand what we’re building, respect editorial independence, and are deeply committed to this new company’s success,” he wrote in a note sent to staff.
The context: James resigned from the News Corp board in 2020 citing disagreements over editorial content, putting him at odds with his father and brother Lachlan, who now controls Fox News and The Wall Street Journal. Vox and New York Magazine arguably sit on the opposite end of the political spectrum to the family’s conservative media outlets.
The sources: Vox Media, The New York Times, Reuters, Bloomberg
