The Federal Trade Commission has greenlit James Murdoch’s over $300 million purchase of roughly half of Vox Media, per a new early termination notice on the regulator’s website. The move clears the regulatory hurdle of a required waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, which typically lasts 30 days for most transactions.
The deal, which was made through Murdoch’s investment company Lupa Systems, includes Vox’s sprawling podcast network, Vox.com and New York Magazine. The purchase will see the network’s roughly 40 podcasts, including Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway’s “Pivot” and its explainer series “Today, Explained,” sit alongside Lupa Systems’ holdings such as Art Basel and Tribeca Enterprises, which produces the Tribeca Film Festival. Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff will remain the portfolio’s leader once the acquisition closes.
Representatives for Vox declined to comment, while Murdoch’s Lupa Systems and the FTC did not immediately return TheWrap’s request for comment.
Murdoch’s acquisition — roughly 50 years after his father, conservative media titan Rupert Murdoch, first purchased New York magazine before selling it in 1991 — helps cap the last decade’s rise and fall of high-value digital media outlets, many of which reached valuations of $1 billion or more before selling years later.
G/O Media collected outlets such as Gizmodo, the Root and the Onion, but sold them off over the last several years. Allen Media Group founder Byron Allen also purchased a controlling stake in BuzzFeed for $120 million, down from its $1.7 billion peak valuation in 2016.
Meanwhile, the remainder of Vox’s brands, which includes Eater, The Verge, SB Nation, Popsugar, The Dodo, Punch and Thrillist will be acquired by Penske Media Corporation. Financial details of Penske’s deal were not made public.
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