James Murdoch acquires minority stake in Vice Media
James Murdoch has agreed to buy a minority share in Vice Media as he looks to build his own media empire.
The younger son of Rupert Murdoch created Lupa Systems earlier this year with the $2bn proceeds from the family’s $71bn sale of 21st Century Fox to Disney.
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Using Lupa Systems, he has now bought a small stake in Vice Media, two people with knowledge of the deal told the Financial Times.
James Murdoch has been on the board at Vice for several years.
His investment in the group comes at the same time as Vice’s acquisition of lifestyle website Refinery29, the FT reports.
He and his five siblings each received $2bn from the sale of their father’s entertainment business to Disney.
James set up Lupa to reinvest those funds and has already acquired stakes in a comic book publisher and Tribeca Film Festival.
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Vice has struggled since initially bursting onto the scene. In 2017 it was valued at $5.7bn by private equity group TPG, but earlier this year Disney wrote off its entire Vice stake with the online media sector struggling to find a sustainable business model.
21st Century Fox initially invested in Vice back in 2013.
Vice declined to comment and Murdoch did not respond to requests for comment.