James Murdoch's Company Said to Be in Talks to Acquire Most of Vox Media

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: New York Times

May 5, 2026


Lupa Systems, the company controlled by the media scion James Murdoch, is in talks to acquire major parts of Vox Media, the parent company of New York magazine and a podcast network with prominent hosts like Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.

Vox Media has been weighing its future for months, including a sale of all or parts of its business. The sale process has drawn multiple potential suitors, including the media company Versant, and it is still possible Vox Media will sell to another acquirer, take on investment or decide not to sell.

A deal for the company would elevate Mr. Murdoch’s Lupa Systems as a player in U.S. media. The company has a majority stake in Tribeca Enterprises, the parent company of the Tribeca Film Festival, and it has financially backed Bodhi Tree Systems, one of India’s biggest media investors. Quadrivium, the foundation that Mr. Murdoch founded with his wife, Kathryn, has backed The 19th, a nonprofit newsroom focused on gender and politics, and The Bulwark, a so-called “Never Trump” digital media company.

But in the United States, Mr. Murdoch has not been an owner in the news industry, the business that helped make his father, Rupert Murdoch, a billionaire mogul with global influence. The younger Mr. Murdoch is flush with cash after the sale of parts of his family’s media business to Disney and a $3.3 billion settlement with his family that secured control of the family’s trust, which includes Fox News and The Wall Street Journal, in the hands of his father and his brother, Lachlan.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/business/media/james-murdoch-vox-media.html

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Quadrivium, the foundation that Mr. Murdoch founded with his wife, Kathryn, has backed The 19th, a nonprofit newsroom focused on gender and politics, and The Bulwark, a so-called “Never Trump” digital media company.

I suppose the above except is something to note.

[maxsolomon]

1. James is the less-of-an-asshole Murdoch that took the buyout

from his dad and bigger-asshole brother Lachlan.

[duckworth969]

2. The more media outlets billionaires buy, the more I ignore them

[Miguelito Loveless]

3. Scratch Vox off the list

[RussBLib]

4. consolidation continues

....and if you're willing to pay off the president of the US, you can merge to your hearts and pockets content.

Reminded of that movie 2073 (released 2024) I recently saw on my DVR at home. Science fiction. Depressing as hell. Cities destroyed, AI takes over, surveillance state to the max, Palantir survives, including Thiel...

You know, the only reason I watched this "documentary" is because on Starz network, where I found it, the blurb said, "A time traveler goes back in time in an attempt to save humanity."

Sounded borderline OK to me, but the movie was nothing like that. Set in a dystopian future, I kept waiting and waiting for some kind of time traveler to show up and do something even remotely positive. But no, no time traveler ever showed up.

How in the fuck does that happen? Total bonehead description. But I guess if the intent was to trick some people into watching it, it worked. Sons uh bitches.

https://russblib.blogspot.com

[Deminpenn]

5. Isn't Versant the Comcast spinoff that owns

MSNOW?

[BumRushDaShow]

6. Yes

They took over NBC Universal's cable stations.