James Murdoch Scoops up New York Magazine, Vox.com and Vox’s Podcast Business in a $300 Million-plus deal

The Washington Post, the New York Times, Politico, the Wall Street Journal, Axios, and Reuters contributed to this report.

James Murdoch is making a bigger play in American media.

Through his investment firm Lupa Systems, the media scion is buying New York magazine, Vox.com and Vox Media’s podcast network in a deal worth more than $300 million. It is a sharp expansion for the younger Murdoch, and a clear sign he is building something of his own rather than hovering around the family empire.

Murdoch said he is not chasing a daily news machine. What he wants, he told The New York Times, is “longer-form, thoughtful journalism that can really speak to the culture.” In his words, the goal is to build places where strong journalists can do the best work of their careers.

That puts him in charge of some very recognizable names. New York magazine comes with titles like The Cut, Vulture and Intelligencer. Vox.com, the explanatory site founded in 2014, is also in the package, along with the podcast network that has become one of Vox Media’s strongest businesses.

Not everything is changing hands. Other Vox Media brands, including The Verge, Eater, SB Nation and The Dodo, are staying behind with a new standalone company.

The deal is also a kind of bookend for digital media’s boom-and-bust era. A decade ago, Vox Media was one of the breakout stars of the internet publishing wave, raising money at lofty valuations alongside names like BuzzFeed and Vice. That world looks very different now. Search traffic has cratered, ad money has gotten harder to hold onto, and publishers have been scrambling to find businesses that actually work.

Vox Media’s podcast arm turned into one of those rare bright spots. Shows like Pivot and Today, Explained helped bring in more than $80 million in revenue last year, and the company has leaned hard into creator-driven audio while much of the rest of digital media has been squeezed.

Murdoch says that is exactly the kind of business he wants. He has been critical of shallow, ad-choked media and says audiences are looking for something more authentic, especially in an age of AI sludge and overpackaged content. He also wants the new setup to connect with other holdings in his portfolio, from film and culture projects to streaming ventures.

For Vox Media chief Jim Bankoff, the deal gives the company a long-term owner who, he says, cares about quality, ethics and innovation. He is staying on to run the properties that are going with Murdoch, and he cast the split as a good outcome for both sides.

It is a big swing for Murdoch, but also a telling one. He is not trying to copy his father’s media empire. He is carving out a different lane, with a different tone, and a much more selective appetite for what counts as news.