Chapter 11 (May 2023); sold to a lender consortium in a deal valuing it ~$350M.
The rise & fall
8 moments Β· 1994β2024
The key moments, with employee sentiment along the way.
1994
π±
1994
Founded as a punk magazine in Montreal
Three decades later it would be pitched as the future of media.
Wikipedia
2014
π¦
2014
Joins the unicorn club
A&E and Technology Crossover Ventures money values the edgy empire in the billions.
Variety
Jun 2017
π
Jun 2017
The peak: TPG invests at $5.7B$5.7B
Disney, A+E and TPG have all bought the story of TV for millennials.
Axios
2019β23
π¬
From the inside Β· Glassdoor reviews, 2019β23
Glassdoor reviews read like a countdown β near-quarterly layoff rounds, unpaid vendors knocking office software offline, staff learning of cuts from press reports, and executive bonuses flowing while laid-off colleagues waited months for severance.
May 2023
πͺ¦
May 2023
Chapter 11 β joins the Unitard Club π
The digital-ad collapse finishes what the losses started.
NPR
Jul 2023
Jul 2023
Sold out of bankruptcy for ~$350M
Lenders Fortress, Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital take the keys.
Variety
Feb 2024
Feb 2024
Stops publishing on vice.com
Hundreds more cut as the site goes quiet.
NYT
$5.35Bof peak value erased Β· 29 years
π¬ entries paraphrase anonymous, unverified reviews posted publicly on Glassdoor β; dated facts carry their source.
How it happened
Vice Media grew from a punk magazine into an edgy digital-media empire spanning Vice News, an HBO show and a sprawling video operation, peaking at a ~$5.7B valuation in 2017 on investment from Disney, A+E Networks and TPG.
Mounting losses and a collapsing digital-ad market gutted it; in May 2023 it filed for Chapter 11, and lenders Fortress, Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital bought it out of bankruptcy at around $350M.
Source: NPR / Variety / Axios ($5.7B peak valuation 2017 on Disney/A+E/TPG money; Chapter 11 May 2023; ~$350M sale to Fortress, Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital, 2023)
