James Murdoch in ‘Advanced Talks’ With Vox Media to Buy New York Mag and Podcast Network: Report

James Murdoch, a media and tech investor who is the younger son of Rupert Murdoch, is reportedly in advanced negotiations to buy Vox Media-owned New York magazine and Vox’s podcast network.

Murdoch’s Lupa Systems investment firm is in talks with Vox Media about a deal but it “could still fall apart,” the Wall Street Journal reported. In March, the New York Times reported that Versant Media, parent of cable networks CNBC and MS NOW, was in “early” talks about a deal for Vox Media’s podcast portfolio.

A rep for Vox Media declined to comment. Reps for Lupa Systems did not respond to a request for comment.

James Murdoch served as CEO of 21st Century Fox from 2015 to 2019, prior to Disney’s deal to acquire the Fox assets. In 2020 he resigned from the News Corp’s board over “disagreements over certain editorial content” published by the company’s news outlets. New York-based Lupa Systems owns a controlling stake in Tribeca Enterprises and owns a 49% stake in MCH Group, which runs the worldwide Art Basel fairs.

Vox Media in 2019 acquired New York Media, publisher of New York magazine and the Vulture pop-culture site, in an all-stock deal designed to gain synergies of scale. In December 2021, Vox Media merged with Group Nine Media.

Vox Media’s slate of 40-plus original podcasts includes “Pivot,” hosted by Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway; “Pretty Tough” with tennis champ Maria Sharapova; “Stay Tuned With Preet,” hosted by Preet Bahara, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York; “Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast” (hosted by YouTuber and tech reviewer Marques Brownlee), and “The Downside With Gianmarco Soresi” (hosted by comedian Gianmarco Soresi and actor Russell Daniels).

Disclosure: Penske Media Corp., owner of Variety, acquired a minority stake in Vox Media in 2023. PMC invested $100 million in Vox Media for a 20% stake, the New York Times reported.