15 Magazine and Media Brands and Who Owns Them

Sports Illustrated had 300 editorial employees in 2023. In January 2024, The Arena Group — the company licensed to publish it — laid off most of the editorial staff in a single day. The Sports Illustrated brand is owned by Authentic Brands Group, a brand management company, which does not employ journalists. It licenses the SI name to operators and collects royalties.

That is the most visible example of what has happened to media brands over the past decade. But it is not the only one.

According to a Pew Research Center report on the state of US journalism, newspaper newsroom employment fell by 57 percent between 2008 and 2020. Magazine publishing saw parallel disruption. The response across the industry was consolidation, ownership transfer, and structural reinvention. Billionaires bought legacy titles as personal projects. IAC reengineered Meredith's portfolio into digital performance publishing. Disney absorbed National Geographic through its $71 billion Fox acquisition.

When we track media brand ownership in our database, the result is a map of corporate control that looks nothing like the masthead on the cover. Here are 15 major magazine and media brands and who actually owns them in 2026.

Legacy News and Current Affairs

1. Time Magazine Time magazine was founded in New York City in 1923 by Briton Hadden and Henry Luce, making it the first weekly news magazine in the United States. Time Inc., the publishing division of Time Warner, was spun off as an independent company in 2014. Meredith Corporation acquired Time Inc. in January 2018 for approximately $2.8 billion. Meredith subsequently sold Time magazine to Salesforce co-founder Marc Benioff and his wife Lynne Benioff in September 2018 for approximately $190 million. The Benioffs stated they bought Time as a personal investment, not as part of Salesforce, and the editorial operations remain independent of Benioff's business interests. Time continues to publish weekly digital and monthly print editions.

2. The Atlantic The Atlantic was founded in Boston in 1857 as a literary and cultural magazine. It has been published continuously for over 165 years, making it one of the oldest continuously published magazines in the United States. Laurene Powell Jobs, founder of the Emerson Collective and widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, acquired a majority stake in The Atlantic in 2017 and subsequently took full ownership by 2021. The Atlantic has pursued a reader-supported subscription model and increased its editorial investment under Powell Jobs's ownership, expanding its staff and digital presence.

3. The Washington Post The Washington Post was founded in 1877 and was the independent publication that broke the Watergate story under editor Ben Bradlee. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, purchased The Washington Post in October 2013 for approximately $250 million in a personal transaction entirely separate from Amazon. Bezos has invested substantially in the Post's digital infrastructure and editorial staff. The Post has faced financial pressure in recent years, with declining subscription growth following the post-COVID news cycle slowdown, leading to significant staff reductions in 2023 and 2024. Bezos retains full personal ownership.

4. Forbes Forbes magazine was founded in 1917 by Bertie Charles Forbes, a Scottish financial journalist. The Forbes family sold a majority stake to Integrated Whale Media Investments, a Hong Kong-based investor group, in 2014. In 2021, Forbes agreed to go public through a merger with Magnum Opus Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), at an implied valuation of approximately $630 million. The SPAC transaction was completed in 2022. Forbes trades on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker FRBS. The Forbes family retains an ownership stake alongside institutional investors.

Fashion and Lifestyle

5. Vogue Vogue is the flagship title of Condé Nast, the American mass media company that also publishes The New Yorker, Wired, Vanity Fair, GQ, Architectural Digest, and Bon Appétit. Condé Nast was acquired by Advance Publications, the private media company owned by the Newhouse family, in 1959. Vogue has been published since 1892 and is the world's most recognized fashion magazine, operating editions in more than 20 countries. Anna Wintour has served as Editor-in-Chief of US Vogue since 1988 and was appointed as Condé Nast's Global Chief Content Officer in 2020.

6. Wired Wired magazine was launched in San Francisco in 1993 as a technology and culture publication. Advance Publications acquired Wired through its Condé Nast division in 1998 for approximately $80 million from founding publisher Louis Rossetto. Wired is now a primarily digital publication with a print edition, focused on technology, science, and culture. Its readership skews toward technology industry professionals and is significant in shaping technology policy and industry discourse.

7. GQ GQ was founded as Gentlemen's Quarterly in 1931 as a menswear trade publication. Condé Nast acquired it in 1983. GQ has evolved from a fashion-forward men's magazine into a broader lifestyle and culture publication covering sports, politics, and celebrity. Like most Condé Nast titles, GQ has expanded its digital and video content significantly while reducing print frequency.

Entertainment and Culture

8. Rolling Stone Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in November 1967 by Jann Wenner as a rock music magazine. Wenner Media, the family company controlled by Jann Wenner, sold a 49% stake in Rolling Stone to BandLab Technologies, a Singapore-based music technology company, in 2017 for an undisclosed sum. BandLab subsequently acquired a majority stake in 2019. Rolling Stone is now majority-owned by BandLab Technologies while Wenner retains a minority stake. The magazine moved its editorial headquarters from New York to Austin, Texas in 2023.

9. Entertainment Weekly Entertainment Weekly was launched by Time Inc. in 1990 as a weekly guide to movies, television, music, and books. It passed to Meredith through the 2018 acquisition of Time Inc., then to Dotdash Meredith through the 2021 IAC-Meredith combination. Dotdash Meredith significantly reduced the print frequency of Entertainment Weekly and shifted its editorial resources toward digital content as part of the broader Dotdash Meredith digital-first strategy. For more on the Dotdash Meredith portfolio, see our post on 20 brands owned by IAC.

10. People People magazine was founded in 1974 by Time Inc. and became the most commercially successful celebrity and entertainment magazine in American history. People passed to Meredith and then to Dotdash Meredith through the same ownership chain as Entertainment Weekly. People.com is consistently among the most-visited entertainment websites in the United States. The brand generates substantial revenue from celebrity cover exclusives, death notices, and royal family coverage, audiences that have proven resilient to digital disruption relative to news and political magazines.

Science, Nature, and Sports

11. National Geographic National Geographic magazine was founded in 1888 by the National Geographic Society, a nonprofit scientific and educational institution in Washington, DC. In 2015, the National Geographic Society partnered with 21st Century Fox to form National Geographic Partners, a joint venture holding the magazine and other media assets. Walt Disney Company acquired 21st Century Fox in 2019 for approximately $71.3 billion, making Disney the controlling partner in National Geographic Partners. The National Geographic Society retains a 27% stake. Disney operates National Geographic as both a linear cable channel and a streaming content brand on Disney+. For full context on the Disney acquisition of Fox, see our post on what brands does Disney own.

12. Sports Illustrated Sports Illustrated was founded in 1954 by Time Inc. as a weekly sports magazine. It passed through Meredith to Authentic Brands Group, which purchased the brand from Meredith Corporation in 2019 for approximately $110 million. ABG licenses the Sports Illustrated name to The Arena Group for editorial and publishing operations. The arrangement created controversy in 2024 when The Arena Group laid off most of Sports Illustrated's editorial staff, raising questions about whether a brand management model can sustain editorial quality media brands. For more on ABG's ownership approach, see our post on 30 brands owned by Authentic Brands Group.

Digital Native and Hybrid

13. New York Magazine New York magazine was founded in 1968 by journalist Clay Felker as a spin-off of the New York Herald Tribune's Sunday supplement. The Murdoch family acquired it in 1977 but sold it in 1991. New York Media, the independent company that publishes New York magazine along with Vulture, The Cut, Grub Street, and Intelligencer, was acquired by Vox Media in September 2019 for an undisclosed sum estimated at approximately $105 million. Vox Media is backed by NBC Universal, which holds a minority stake. The New York magazine brand has maintained its editorial independence and critical reputation under Vox Media ownership.

14. The Economist The Economist was founded in London in 1843 by Scottish economist James Wilson. The Economist Group, the parent company, has an unusual ownership structure: the Economist Newspaper Limited operates under a Trust arrangement designed to preserve its editorial independence. Shareholders include Exor N.V. (the Agnelli family investment vehicle), Pearson plc (which sold its majority stake in 2015), and the Cadbury, Layton, Schroder, and other founding families. No single shareholder holds a controlling interest, and the editorial independence trustee structure means no owner can direct editorial coverage. This structure makes The Economist one of the most ownership-protected major media brands in the world.

15. The Verge / Vox Media The Verge is a technology news publication launched by Vox Media in November 2011. Vox Media also owns Vox.com, SB Nation, Eater, Curbed, Recode, and Polygon. NBC Universal acquired a minority stake in Vox Media in 2015. Comcast (which owns NBC Universal) has periodically increased its investment. Vox Media acquired New York Media in 2019 and Group Nine Media in 2022, establishing itself as the largest independent digital media company in the United States by staff and revenue. Vox Media generates revenue through advertising, subscription products (The Verge's subscription tier launched in 2023), events, and licensing.

Three Ownership Models Reshaping Media in 2026

When we look across these 15 brands, three distinct ownership models have replaced the traditional independent publisher structure.

Billionaire personal ownership. Time (Marc and Lynne Benioff, $190M), The Atlantic (Laurene Powell Jobs, full ownership by 2021), and The Washington Post (Jeff Bezos, $250M) are owned by individuals wealthy enough to operate them as personal projects rather than profit-maximizing businesses. This model has generally preserved editorial investment. It also creates succession uncertainty — the brand's survival is tied to one owner's continued interest and financial capacity.

Corporate consolidation. Condé Nast (owned by the Newhouse family's Advance Publications), Dotdash Meredith (owned by IAC, NASDAQ: IAC), and Vox Media (with Comcast/NBCUniversal as a minority investor) represent the industrial model: multiple titles integrated under shared advertising technology, content infrastructure, and corporate overhead. Scale is real. Distinctive editorial voice is harder to maintain when 40 brands share the same analytics dashboard.

Brand licensing. Sports Illustrated is the clearest example. Authentic Brands Group owns the trademark and collects royalties. The Arena Group was licensed to produce the content — and then laid off the editorial staff in January 2024. The brand survives. The journalism operation that built the brand's reputation does not. This model extracts value from brand equity without investing in the editorial product that created it.

For more on how media conglomerates own entertainment brands, see our posts on what brands does Disney own and 20 brands owned by IAC.

FAQ

Who owns The New Yorker? The New Yorker is owned by Condé Nast, which is owned by Advance Publications, the private media company controlled by the Newhouse family. The New Yorker was acquired by Condé Nast in 1985.

Is National Geographic still a nonprofit? The National Geographic Society remains a nonprofit scientific and educational organization and retains a 27% stake in National Geographic Partners. However, the magazine and media operations are run through National Geographic Partners, which is majority-controlled by Disney. The Society uses its stake's proceeds to fund scientific research and exploration.

Are any major magazines still family-owned? Yes. The Economist remains under a Trust structure protecting editorial independence, with founding families retaining stakes. Condé Nast (Vogue, Wired, GQ, The New Yorker) is owned by Advance Publications, which is controlled by the Newhouse family. Forbes has the Forbes family as a minority shareholder. Family ownership in magazine publishing is increasingly uncommon at scale, but it persists in notable cases.

Explore Related Brands

• Vogue - Condé Nast's flagship fashion magazine, published since 1892
• Sports Illustrated - Brand-managed magazine licensed to The Arena Group by ABG
• National Geographic - Disney-majority-owned science magazine founded 1888
• Wired - Condé Nast technology magazine founded San Francisco 1993
• People - Dotdash Meredith celebrity magazine, highest-circulation US weekly

Browse all media and entertainment brands

Sources

1. SEC EDGAR: Time acquisition by Benioffs, 2018 — https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar 2. Condé Nast Company Overview — https://www.condenast.com/ 3. Disney Annual Report 2024 — https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/investor-relations/ 4. Authentic Brands Group: Sports Illustrated acquisition — https://authenticbrandsgroup.com 5. Vox Media: Group Nine Acquisition, 2022 — https://corp.voxmedia.com/ 6. Forbes FRBS NYSE Listing Prospectus, 2022 — https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar 7. The Economist Group Ownership Structure — https://www.economistgroup.com/about-us

All brand ownership data verified through WhoBrands.com research methodology. Last updated: February 2026.