North Equity LLC

Who owns North Equity?

North Equity is an independent, privately held firm controlled by its managing partners, Andrew Perlman and Matt Sechrest, who co-founded it in 2018. It has no corporate parent.

What does North Equity own?

Its principal holding is a majority stake in Recurrent Ventures, the digital media company behind The Drive, Donut Media, Task & Purpose, Field & Stream, and related brands. The firm has acquired more than 24 media brands through its platform.

Who founded North Equity?

Managing partners Andrew Perlman and Matt Sechrest co-founded North Equity in late 2018, combining Perlman's media and intellectual property background with Sechrest's software experience.

Is North Equity a private equity firm?

It describes itself as a venture equity firm, a hybrid of private equity acquisition and venture-style company building. It buys undervalued digital brands, rebuilds them on shared technology, and operates them through controlled holding companies.

Where is North Equity based?

North Equity is headquartered in Miami, Florida, in the Brickell district, where it relocated in 2021 from New York. It has maintained offices in Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.

Andrew Perlman and Matt Sechrest founded North Equity in late 2018, combining Perlman's background in media and intellectual property (he previously worked at Classic Media, the rights company later owned by DreamWorks, and at a patent-licensing public company) with Sechrest's Silicon Valley software experience. Their stated goal was to bring legacy media brands with strong editorial voices into the digital era.

The firm's first acquisition, in December 2018, was The Drive, the automotive publication Time Inc. had launched in 2015 and Meredith had inherited months earlier. Through 2020, North Equity added Car Bibles, BobVila.com, Kitchenistic, and Task & Purpose, then made its largest deal: the purchase of Bonnier Corporation's US magazine group, including Popular Science, Popular Photography, SAVEUR, Outdoor Life, and Field & Stream, bringing the portfolio to roughly 13 brands. Bonnier took an investment position in North Equity as part of that transaction.

In June 2021, North Equity consolidated the growing portfolio into a formal operating company, Recurrent Ventures, which continued acquiring: Donut Media, Domino, Dwell, Futurism, JancisRobinson.com, Business of Home, and Lonny, reaching more than 24 brands. The firm moved its headquarters from New York to Miami's Brickell district in 2021, telling local officials it planned to create up to 380 jobs.

The advertising downturn of 2022-2023 pressured the model. Recurrent laid off staff, closed MEL Magazine, and rotated through CEOs before Perlman took the role himself in late 2023. Under his direction Recurrent divested Popular Science, Dwell, Domino, and Business of Home to Ziff Davis in May 2026, concentrating the portfolio on automotive and military verticals. North Equity remains Recurrent's majority backer.

North Equity's scrutiny has largely been inherited from Recurrent's decisions: the MEL Magazine closure, successive layoffs including the halving of Popular Science's staff in November 2023, and leadership churn drew critical coverage in the media trade press. The broader debate about private equity's role in journalism, whether sponsors invest in or strip editorial assets, applies directly to the firm's model, though its defenders note that the brands it acquired were distressed or non-core when purchased.