James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems said Wednesday it has inked a deal to buy New York magazine, Vox Media’s podcast network and news site Vox.com.
Terms of the sale, which covers about half of Vox Media, were not disclosed.
People familiar with the deal said it came to more than $300 million, according to the New York Times.
Murdoch, the youngest son of media titan Rupert Murdoch — who once owned New York mag — launched Lupa in 2019 after he stepped down as chief executive of 21st Century Fox.
The deal, which is expected to close in the coming weeks, is Lupa’s biggest to date.
James Murdoch, 53, was flush with cash after participating in last year’s $3.3 billion settlement determining control of the pater familias’ media empire, which includes Fox News and News Corporation, The Post’s parent company.
“This 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,” James Murdoch said. “It will allow us to apply new tools across the businesses we are building, adding substantial production, distribution, and editorial capability to our group.”
Scooping up the glossy mag and the podcast factory, which includes Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway’s popular “Pivot,” will significantly expand Lupa’s media portfolio.
Lupa already had a majority stake in Tribeca Enterprises, the parent company of the Tribeca Film Festival, and has financially backed Bodhi Tree Systems, one of India’s biggest media investors.
On top of that, Murdoch and his wife Kathryn founded Quadrivium, which has backed The 19th, a nonprofit newsroom focused on gender and politics, and The Bulwark, an anti-Trump digital media company.
What’s left of Vox — Eater, Popsugar, SB Nation, The Dodo, and The Verge are not included in the deal — and will be led by Jim Bankoff, who co-founded Vox Media and has led its growth since its early days as a network of a dozen grassroots sports blogs.
Bankoff will be CEO of the new company upon closing.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with James and Lupa Systems,” he said. “Together under Lupa’s stewardship we are primed to be the best home for talent and the most dynamic media company of this new era.”
The sale of Vox Media, which LionTree advised on the deal, marks the end of an era of high-flying digital media valuations.
Vox Media was reportedly worth about $1 billion in 2015, when it mostly encompassed websites and did not include New York magazine or a podcast network.
It was part of a coterie of highly-valued digital media properties, including Buzzfeed and Vice Media, which was valued at an eye-popping $5.7 billion in 2017. But Vice has since gone bankrupt and BuzzFeed recently announced it is selling a 52% stake for $120 million — a small fraction of its earlier $1.7 billion valuation — to media entrepreneur Byron Allen.
