US media giant, Meredith Corporation, has agreed to sell Time Magazine for $190 million, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Marc Beniof
US media giant, Meredith Corporation, has agreed to sell Time Magazine for $190 million, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Marc Benioff, co-founder of the cloud computing company, Salesforce.com and his wife, Lynn Benioff are purchasing the publication. The proposed sale to the Benioffs is expected to close within 30 days The couple say the magazine will be unrelated to Salesforce.com adding that they won’t have any day-to-day influence over the magazine’s operations, nor will they have any journalistic input. Marc however said that Time is the only magazine they are planning to purchase from Meredith.
“We’re investing in a company with tremendous impact on the world, one that is also an incredibly strong business. That’s what we’re looking for when we invest as a family. The power of the magazine is its unique story telling of the people and issues that affect us all and connect us all,” the couple said.
The couple will be taking over the news magazine amid a turbulent time for print publications. Print advertising is on the decline and Time cut circulation down from 3 million to 2.3 million earlier this year. But the Benioffs said they’re hopeful given the magazine’s large audience and expanded online presence. Time.com has 31.7 million multi-platform, unique visitors in July 2018, a hike from the 27.4 million who visited its platforms during the same period in 2015, according to media measurement firm comScore Inc.
The deal comes roughly eight months after Meredith Corp., a publisher with ties to GOP mega-donor Charles Koch, purchased Time Inc. for $1.8 billion.
