A couple of weeks ago, the news leaked, and now it has become a reality: Vice Media, the ultimate hipster media outlet that defined the 2000s, has filed for bankruptcy. After three decades of publishing content on youth, counterculture, and underrepresented societies, Vice has hit rock bottom and entered into bankruptcy.
As confirmed by CNN, the media corporation has filed for bankruptcy citing a significant decline in advertising revenue. It is now entering a sale process to secure the future of the company, and in the meantime, the company will be managed by a consortium of lenders including Soros Fund Management, Monroe Capital, and Fortress Investment Group.
The sale will be open for $225 million, but the corporation will continue to operate in the meantime. Considering its price, Vice’s situation is evident. The media outlet was once valued at $5.7 billion during its prime in 2017. At that time, it had received a $450 million investment from TPG Capital and was one of the most popular countercultural media outlets globally.
The consortium will pay the $225 million for the company’s current assets, thereby canceling the debt. However, major investors in Vice Media such as Disney and TPG Capital will lose their investment along the way and will need to work on revitalizing or reselling the brand to avoid further losses. In fact, the actual debt brought before the court amounts to over $500 million.
If, in the state of bankruptcy, other interested parties are willing to pay more than the minimum $225 million, they could acquire the brand entirely and do as they please with it. However, there doesn’t seem to be any current interest, so its future remains uncertain.
For now, Vice Media will remain active for the next two to three months during the sale process, where anything can happen. While it may have fallen out of fashion some time ago, it could be a great opportunity for corporations looking to change their tone.
Beyond the original magazine, which was founded by three young people from Montreal in the 1990s, Vice has several subsidiaries such as Motherboard, Pulse Films, Vice TV, and the agency Virtue, one of the most popular in recent decades. Vice Media operates in over 25 languages and has more than 30 offices, making it a highly significant development for global journalism.
The final goodbye of Vice
Although Vice’s situation had been quite dire for years, it was in February when things started to unravel. That month, Vice Media announced the departure of CEO Nancy Dubuc. Then, in April, their flagship news program, Vice News Tonight, was shut down, resulting in the dismissal of over 100 employees. The closure of this program, which began as an HBO newscast and received numerous awards, made it evident that the media company was in a critical state. Now, it has been confirmed that these were just the first drops of a major downpour.
Vice’s bankruptcy, even if it can be compensated in the near future, perfectly reflects the new landscape in which media finds itself today. Vice emerged in the 1990s as a counterprogramming response to a system that didn’t have room for youth or the topics that interested them. However, with the rise of social media and its democratizing effects, the need for such an outlet has diminished.
Only time will tell what ultimately happens to Vice Media. But one thing is clear: its demise marks a turning point for a type of journalism that, despite its good intentions and references, seems to have become obsolete.
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