James Murdoch, the more liberal-minded son of conservative media titan Rupert Murdoch, is in advanced talks with Vox Media to purchase its sprawling podcast network and New York magazine, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The deal, which has reportedly not been finalized, would run through Murdoch’s Lupa Systems investment company.
A Vox Media spokesperson declined to comment. A spokesperson for Murdoch declined to comment. Lupa Systems did not respond to an immediate request for comment.
The purchase would come weeks after the New York Times reported on Versant’s interest in Vox Media’s network of roughly 40 podcasts, including Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway’s “Pivot” and its explainer series “Today, Explained.”
Vox Media reportedly opened up its suite of assets — which includes the podcast network, New York and websites such as Vox.com, the tech website The Verge and the food website Eater — to suitors last year before ending talks in February.
The purchase would give Murdoch his own media property to compete with his older brother Lachlan Murdoch’s arsenal of media assets, including the conservative-leaning Fox News (and its collection of podcasts) through Fox Corp., along with the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post through News Corp.
Murdoch’s current investments through Lupa include a stake in Tribeca Enterprises, which oversees the Tribeca Film Festival, and MCH Group, which runs Art Basel in Miami. Kathryn Murdoch, James’ wife, has also invested in the Bulwark, the independent media company opposed to the Trump administration.
Murdoch was previously the CEO of 21st Century Fox before his father sold the company to Disney in 2019. He founded Lupa Systems in 2019, which took a minority stake in Vice Media later that year.
Murdoch has long been the most prominent liberal member of his family, slamming “media property owners” who “know the truth but choose instead to propagate lies” after the 2020 election and Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. He endorsed Kamala Harris in 2024.
