James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems to acquire New York Magazine, Vox Media Podcast Network & Vox

Lupa Systems, James Murdoch’s media and technology holding company, has agreed to acquire New York Magazine, the Vox Media Podcast Network, and Vox from the digital media group Vox Media. The properties, known for editorial excellence and deeply engaged audiences, will operate as a subsidiary of Lupa Systems called Vox Media. Eater, Popsugar, SB Nation, The Dodo, and The Verge are not included in the transaction.

These divisions’ roster of influential journalists, top-rated podcasts, and digital brands with large social footprints, together with the group’s iconic biweekly print magazine, will give Lupa exceptional new reach across platforms and fit neatly into Lupa’s growing global portfolio.

“This acquisition aligns well with our existing holdings and investments and reflects both our interest in the forward edge of culture and our deep commitment to ambitious journalism and agenda-setting conversations,” said James Murdoch. “It will allow us to apply new tools across the businesses we are building, adding substantial production, distribution, and editorial capability to our group.”

Lupa’s acquisition of New York Magazine includes its must-read verticals, The Cut, Vulture, Intelligencer, The Strategist, Curbed, and Grub Street. Vox brings multiplatform leadership in video, text, and podcasts like Today, Explained. The Vox Media Podcast Network, home to popular shows such as Pivot with Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway, Criminal, and Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel, has been the fastest growing business within Vox Media and will immediately put Lupa at the top of the podcast field, which now reaches 58% of Americans monthly, according to Edison Research, including two out of three people between the ages of 18 and 54.

The new Vox Media will be led by Jim Bankoff, who co-founded Vox Media and has led its growth since its early days as a network of a dozen grassroots sports blogs. He will be CEO of the new company upon closing. “I couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with James and Lupa Systems. Each one of these Vox Media divisions is marked by its strong relevance with audiences, its commitment to quality, and its enormous growth potential. We are incredibly proud to have built and scaled several of the leading media properties of this generation. Together under Lupa’s stewardship we are primed to be the best home for talent and the most dynamic media company of this new era,” said Jim Bankoff.

Lupa’s acquisition of the Vox Media properties brings together two groups that place a premium on being at the center of the cultural conversation. Lupa’s holdings include MCH Group’s Art Basel, which sets the global art agenda at its annual events in Paris, Basel, Miami, Hong Kong, and Doha and Tribeca Enterprises, the media and entertainment company co-founded by Robert DeNiro and Jane Rosenthal. Through Bodhi Tree Systems, Lupa also holds a material stake in India’s streaming entertainment and sports platform, JioStar.

James Murdoch has deep experience in media, having served as CEO of 21st Century Fox, as well as Europe’s BSkyB and Sky plc. Before that, he was CEO of Asia’s Star TV. Since founding Lupa, James Murdoch has partnered with Uday Shankar to create Bodhi Tree Systems, which houses media and consumer businesses in South Asia, with a particular focus on India’s robust market.

Since its founding, Vox Media has grown both organically–launching new media brands including Vox–and through targeted acquisitions. Vox, under the leadership of editor-in-chief Swati Sharma, has grown a membership program with tens of thousands of paying subscribers, a thriving YouTube channel with nearly 13 million subscribers, and podcasts including Unexplainable, The Gray Area, and America, Actually.

In 2019, Vox Media acquired New York Magazine, reinforcing and diversifying its subscription and ecommerce revenue streams in addition to its traditional base of advertising, while continuing to publish stories that drive the national conversation. Under the leadership of editor-in-chief David Haskell and Vox Media president & vice chair Pam Wasserstein New York has thrived, challenging and fascinating a growing readership, building a diverse and growing business, and winning multiple accolades for the excellence of its prodigious editorial output.

The Vox Media Podcast Network, under the leadership of Ray Chao, general manager, and Nishat Kurwa, executive producer, has grown into a portfolio of nearly 50 leading shows and reaches an audience of tens of millions across audio, video, and social platforms. The podcast network has also amassed a growing presence in live events, with nearly 50 live shows from across its portfolio in 2025 and more expected in 2026.

LionTree acted as financial advisor to Vox Media in connection with the transaction.