Who Owns Popular Science?

Edward L. Youmans founded Popular Science in New York in 1872 to disseminate scientific knowledge to lay readers, making it one of the oldest continuously published magazines in the United States. Through the twentieth century it became an institution of American popular science journalism, covering aviation, the space race, computing, and consumer technology for a mass audience.

Times Mirror acquired the magazine in 1986, and it passed to Time Inc. through the 2000 sale of Times Mirror Magazines. Swedish publisher Bonnier bought it in 2007 as part of its purchase of Time Inc.'s enthusiast titles. Bonnier sold its US magazine group to North Equity, the venture equity firm backed by Bonnier itself, in late 2020, and the titles transferred to North Equity's operating company Recurrent Ventures in 2021.

The print magazine ceased regular issues in 2020 as PopSci shifted to an all-digital model, later introducing a quarterly digital magazine format. Under Recurrent the brand weathered the broader portfolio's restructuring, including November 2023 layoffs that cut roughly half its staff as the company redirected resources toward video. In March 2025 Popular Science launched a FAST streaming channel through a partnership with Underknown, its first major move into video distribution.

Ziff Davis acquired the publication in May 2026 as part of its purchase of four Recurrent titles. The deal placed a 154-year-old magazine inside a portfolio that includes CNET, Mashable, and PCMag, reuniting PopSci with a corporate owner focused on technology journalism for the first time since the Time Inc. era.