Billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s son James Murdoch is acquiring three major divisions of Vox Media.
Murdoch’s media and technology holding company Lupa Systems announced Thursday that it has agreed to purchase New York Magazine, the Vox Media Podcast Network, and Vox.com. Murdoch is spending $300 million for the properties, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing an anonymous source familiar with the matter.
The properties will now operate as a subsidiary of Lupa Systems called Vox Media, per the news release. The acquisition “aligns well with our existing holdings and investments and reflects both our interest in the forward edge of culture and our deep commitment to ambitious journalism and agenda-setting conversations,” Murdoch said in a Thursday statement.
“It will allow us to apply new tools across the businesses we are building, adding substantial production, distribution, and editorial capability to our group,” Murdoch continued.
When reached for comment, Lupa Systems and Vox Media each referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to Lupa Systems’ press release from Thursday.
New York Magazine did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff said in a note shared with the company’s staff on Thursday morning that several of Vox’s other properties like Eater, Popsugar, SB Nation, The Dodo and The Verge will now “make up a second independent company under a new corporate name, which will be determined in the weeks ahead, with [Vox Media President] Ryan Pauley continuing at that company as its leader post-closing.”
In 2019, Vox purchased New York Magazine for $105 million, Deadline reported.
Murdoch previously served as CEO of 21st Century Fox. He notably stepped down from the board of directors of News Corporation in 2020 due to “disagreements over certain editorial content” from the company’s news outlets, Variety reported.
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