Get you up to speed: James Murdoch to acquire New York Magazine and Vox Media Podcast Network
James Murdoch, through his company Lupa Systems, has agreed to acquire New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network in a deal valued at more than £300 million. The acquisition includes publishing and podcast assets, with Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff set to join Lupa Systems and continue leading the brands under the Vox Media label.
The acquisition is expected to close within four to six weeks, allowing for a seamless transition of Vox’s podcast division and New York Magazine into Lupa Systems as a subsidiary. Lupa Systems, founded by James Murdoch in 2019, is also known for owning Art Basel and Tribeca Enterprises, reflecting its broader investment strategy in media and cultural assets.
James Murdoch’s acquisition of New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network has been characterised by praise from key media figures, with Kara Swisher noting that the Murdochs are “savvy about the business and willing to take smart risks.” Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff will remain at the helm of the brands under Lupa Systems, with the deal expected to close in four to six weeks.
What remains unclear — The exact timeline for the closure of the deal between James Murdoch and Vox Media has not been specified beyond the four to six weeks mentioned.
James Murdoch to acquire New York Magazine and Vox Media Podcast Network
Economy|Media James Murdoch to acquire New York Magazine and Vox Media Podcast Network
The deal, valued at more than $300m, gives Murdoch control of a storied magazine and a podcast division with a reach valued by advertisers.
FILE – In this Sept. 1, 2015, file photo the Vox website is displayed on an iPad held by an Associated Press staffer in Los Angeles. Vox Media, an online publisher, is buying the owner of New York Magazine, a half-century old publication chronicling the city’s culture and events. The companies did not state a price Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File) (AP)
Media scion James Murdoch has agreed to acquire New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network in a deal that will significantly expand his portfolio and stands to boost his influence over news and entertainment.
“This acquisition reflects both our interest in the forward edge of culture and our deep commitment to ambitious journalism,” Murdoch, the younger son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, said in a statement on Wednesday announcing the transaction. His company Lupa Systems will buy both properties from Vox Media.
The deal, valued at more than $300m, gives Murdoch control of a storied magazine known for its coverage of culture, politics and fashion, and a podcast division whose reach, among a demographic coveted by advertisers, rivals that of cable television news networks, according to several people with direct knowledge of the acquisition. The politics news site Vox.com is also included.
Murdoch and his wife Kathryn Murdoch were intimately involved in courting key talent from Vox, specifically Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway, stars of the popular Pivot podcast, as well as several other programmes on the company’s podcast network.
“I like James and Kathryn,” Swisher said in a phone interview. “Unlike many other media owners these days, they’re savvy about the business and willing to take smart risks.”
Vox’s podcast division was valued much higher than New York Magazine in the transaction, two of the people said, spotlighting the importance of making sure top programmes were locked in. Pivot, for example, has three years remaining on its contract, which will continue under Murdoch. Swisher met with the investor and his wife Kathryn several times before the deal came together.
“In a company like Vox, if its talent doesn’t like something, it’s not gonna happen,” Galloway said in an interview. He added, “James is the only Murdoch that this deal could have happened with.”
Several years ago, James was locked in a fierce dispute with his father over the editorial direction and future control of the family’s media empire. In 2019, he founded Lupa after stepping down as chief executive of 21st Century Fox. In 2020, he resigned from the board of News Corp, the publishing arm of the family’s media empire, citing “disagreements over certain editorial content”.
Vox’s podcast and publishing assets will operate as a subsidiary of Lupa Systems, which also owns Art Basel, which hosts annual events in Paris, Miami, Hong Kong, and Doha, and Tribeca Enterprises, the media and entertainment company cofounded by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal.
Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff will join Lupa Systems and will continue to lead the brands under the Vox Media label, he said in a note to the company’s staff, adding the deal is expected to close in four to six weeks.
New York Magazine’s publications include The Cut, Vulture and Intelligencer, with a digital audience of tens of millions and more than 400,000 paying subscribers currently.
The acquisition does not include other Vox Media brands such as Eater, Popsugar and The Verge. These brands, along with SB Nation and The Dodo, will become an independent company under a new corporate name.
James’s father, Rupert Murdoch, once owned New York Magazine from the late 1970s till he sold it in 1991.