VICE Media Group LLC

What does VICE Media Group own?

VICE Media Group owns the VICE digital media operation, VICE Studios for film and television production, VICE News, VICE Sports, and the Virtue branded content agency. Former properties including Viceland, Refinery29, i-D, and Motherboard have been closed or divested.

Is VICE Media publicly traded?

No. VICE Media is a private company owned by a creditor consortium led by Fortress Investment Group with Soros Capital Management and Monroe Capital. It has never been public.

Who founded VICE Media?

Shane Smith, Suroosh Alvi, and Gavin McInnes founded the company in 1994 in Montreal as Voice of Montreal magazine. McInnes departed in 2008, and Smith left the company during the bankruptcy.

Where is VICE Media headquartered?

VICE Media is headquartered in New York City. The company originated in Montreal and maintained dual operations for years before consolidating its base in New York.

How many employees does VICE have?

Approximately 900 people work for VICE Media as of 2026, down from a peak exceeding 3,000 employees before the bankruptcy and restructuring.

Who owns VICE Media?

A consortium of former creditors led by Fortress Investment Group, with Soros Capital Management and Monroe Capital, owns VICE Media. The group acquired the company for $350 million through the 2023 Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Shane Smith, Suroosh Alvi, and Gavin McInnes founded the company in 1994 in Montreal as Voice of Montreal, a punk magazine covering music, drugs, and counterculture. It relocated to New York in 2001, dropped the "Voice" name for VICE, and grew into a multimedia operation spanning digital video, print, events, and branded content.

The company's gonzo aesthetic and immersive reporting made it a magnet for young audiences and investors alike. Major investment rounds brought in Fox, Disney, TPG, and A&E, and the 2016 launch of the Viceland linear TV channel marked a peak expansion. At its height VICE operated bureaus in roughly 35 countries and produced content across digital, television, film, and live events.

The economics never worked. Digital advertising disappointed, the linear channel failed, and the company burned through its venture capital chasing growth it could not monetize. A SPAC deal that would have valued it at $5.7 billion collapsed in 2021, and successive rounds of layoffs and executive departures preceded the May 2023 Chapter 11 filing.

The bankruptcy concluded with a $350 million sale to a consortium of former lenders led by Fortress Investment Group with Soros Capital Management and Monroe Capital. The new owners shut down Viceland's production, cut the workforce dramatically, and reorganized around the studios, news, and agency operations that had real revenue. Adam Stotsky's June 2025 appointment as CEO brought in outside leadership to complete the reconstruction.

As a private company, VICE publishes no ESG reporting and holds no major sustainability certifications. Its ethical dimensions are editorial: the journalism it continues to produce, the labor practices that affected its workforce through bankruptcy, and the content standards of the properties it still operates.

The company's union relationships have been contentious. VICE News staff organized early, and the bankruptcy-era layoffs and restructuring generated significant labor disputes that were addressed through severance and contract settlements.

VICE's controversies are extensive. A 2017 New York Times investigation documented a workplace culture of sexual harassment and misconduct that led to settlements, executive departures, and a damaging public reckoning. The company's "boys club" culture under founder Shane Smith became emblematic of media industry misconduct.

The bankruptcy itself was controversial, wiping out investors including pension and institutional funds while former employees disputed severance and benefit arrangements. The failure of the $5.7 billion valuation and the company's collapse became a case study in venture-capital-fueled media overvaluation.

Earlier controversies included a 2009 scandal over fabricated content, various editorial disputes over journalistic standards, and the use of non-disclosure agreements that concealed the workplace problems. No criminal charges resulted from any of the events.