Going, going, gone
Fortune magazine sold to Thai businessman.
loS anGeleS: Meredith has inked a deal to sell the Fortune businessmedia brand for US$150mil (RM630mil) in cash to Thai businessman Chatchaval Jiaravanon.
The deal, subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close by the end of 2018. The sale of the 88-yearold Fortune brand comes after Meredith on Oct 31 closed on the sale of Time to Salesforce founder Marc Benioff and his wife, Lynne Benioff, for US$190mil (RM798mil).
Alan Murray, formerly chief content officer of Time Inc, will become president and CEO of Fortune.
Clifton Leaf will continue as editor-in-chief. Under the new ownership, Fortune will continue to be based in New York City and the group is seeking new office space.
Currently, 170 employees are associated with Fortune.
According to Murray, the full staff will be coming over in the transition to the newly established Jiaravanon-owned Fortune Media Group Holdings Ltd.
Murray said he was introduced to
Jiaravanon through a mutual acquaintance: Bob Nardelli, former CEO of Chrysler and Home Depot.
The deal came together in 21 days, Murray said.
“He’s a very charming man,” Murray said about Jiaravanon.
“He cares a lot about the Fortune brand, and believes it can be a bigger global media brand than it is today.”
Specifically, the Thai business mogul is interested in building up Fortune’s Hong Kong office. “He’s very interested in the China part of the business,” Murray said.
After Meredith closed its US$1.85bil (RM7.7bil) acquisition of Time Inc. in January, the company said it would sell Time Inc’s news and sports brands – Time, Sports Illustrated, Fortune and Money – as well as its investment in ad-tech company Viant Technology to focus on lifestyle and entertainment brands like People and Entertainment Weekly catering to its core audience of American women. Meredith said it expects to announce deals for SI and Money soon.
Fortune was founded in 1930 at the beginning of the Great Depression. Since then Fortune has evolved from a traditional print magazine into a global multiplatform, multimedia business that includes the monthly magazine with multiple international editions; a digital news and video platform that reaches an average monthly audience of nearly 20 million; and a live-event series.