Tech news site The Verge has been sold with other websites to Penske Media, reports Erik Hayden of The Hollywood Reporter.
Hayden writes, “The move formally concludes the multiyear sales process for Vox Media, which had been steered by CEO Jim Bankoff since 2009. On May 20, the exec revealed a sale of crown jewel magazine New York as well as its podcast assets (like Pivot with Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway) and namesake site, Vox, to Fox empire scion James Murdoch’s venture firm, which Bankoff will join and lead.
“Eater, The Verge and the other publishing brands were cleaved off into what was called RemainCo, run by Ryan Pauley, the revenue, strategy and operations-focused executive who has been at Vox Media since 2013. Speculation at the time of Murdoch’s New York buy centered on whether each of the publishing assets would be sold separately or be shopped as whole package. One factor in the dealmaking was a 2023 pact between Penske Media and Vox in which the Jay Penske-run company had taken a stake in the Bankoff-led media firm.
“Now those brands, along with Vox’s branded studios as well as its ad tech products like marketplace Concert and data platform Forte will join a publishing company that also owns The Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone, Billboard, WWD, Variety, ARTnews, Robb Report and other publications.”
Read more here.
