CEO’S CORNER

Vice Media’s bankruptcy

Decayed Digital Colossus and Vice both file for bankruptcy

Vice, which had courted powerful media companies, has found it difficult to adapt to the harsh realities of internet publication. Vice could be purchased by a group of creditors for $225 million. On Monday, Vice Media announced it was declaring bankruptcy, capping a long decline from a new-media darling to a cautionary tale of the issues the digital publishing sector is experiencing.

The bankruptcy ect Vice's companies, which include Refinery29, a women-focused website that Vice acquired in 2019, the ad agency Virtue, and the Pulse Films branch in addition to its main website.

Presented By Kennedy Lucas Publishings LC

The company could be saved from bankruptcy by a group of Vice's lenders, including Fortress Investment Group and Soros Fund Management. The group has offered $225 million, which would be paid by the loans it has already made to the business. A transaction would also transfer "significant liabilities" from Vice to it. The next step is a sales process. To continue operating Vice, the lenders have obtained a $20 million loan. If a better offer does not come forward, the consortium that also includes Fortress will take over. Vice will be acquired by Soros. But the fantasies that Vice executives once had about making their debut on the stock market or selling their company for a staggering sum have been destroyed. At one point, the corporation was estimated to be worth $5.7 billion.

The bankruptcy will make hundreds of millions of dollars in investments