Jann Wenner's Rolling Stone Is Up for Sale

Rolling Stone magazine founder Jann Wenner is putting up his controlling stake in the company for sale, his company Wenner Media announced Sunday in a press release.

“I love my job, I enjoy it, I’ve enjoyed it for a long time,” Wenner told The New York Times. He said that letting go is “just the smart thing to do.”

“There’s a level of ambition that we can’t achieve alone,” said Wenner’s 27-year-old son Gus, who is chief operating officer of Wenner Media, Rolling Stone’s parent company. “So we are being proactive and want to get ahead of the curve. Publishing is a completely different industry than what it was. The trends go in one direction, and we are very aware of that.”

Also Read: Glamour's Cindi Leive Becomes 4th Top Magazine Editor to Resign in the Last Week

Both father and son said they will stay on at Wenner Media, the Times reported. Their decision to sell comes after several other famous editors have chosen to step down of late — Graydon Carter of Vanity Fair, Robbie Meyers of Elle, Nancy Gibbs of Time and Cindi Lieve of Glamour have all announced their exit from their respective publications.

“Rolling Stone has played such a role in the history of our times, socially and politically and culturally,” said the elder Wenner. “We want to retain that position.”

Rolling Stone has been an iconic part of pop culture for 50 years. Nonetheless, the Wenners have been whittling away at the assets in their media company over the last few years. Wenner Media recently sold its other two magazines, Us Weekly and Men’s Journal, and sold a 49 percent stake in Rolling Stone last year to BandLab Technologies, according to the Times report.

Is CAA's Emmy Celebration the New Vanity Fair Oscar Party? (Photos)

As the captains of entertainment, sports, politics and fashion converge at Bouchon in Beverly Hills before the Emmy Awards, CAA is the straw that stirs the drink. With "Big Little Lies" scoring big in nominations, leads Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern favored heavily into the social equation.
Alex Berliner/AB Images
Andy Cohen, horror tycoon Jason Blum and Seth Meyers
Alex Berliner/AB Images
Viola Davis and Ryan Murphy

Also Read: We ‘Schmooze It up’ Inside the Emmys Pre-Parties With Julia Louis-Dreyfus and More (Photos)
Alex Berliner/AB Images
Present and future political power on display: Antonio Villaraigosa and Senator Barbara Boxer claim some choice real estate.
Alex Berliner/AB Images
Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade
Alex Berliner/AB Images
Sarah Paulson, Andy Garcia and Daniella Garcia-Lorido
Alex Berliner/AB Images
Colin Jost and most definitely not Scarlett Johansson. That's SNL producer Erin Doyle.

Also Read: Here’s All the Emmys We Think ‘SNL’ Will Win Sunday
Alex Berliner/AB Images
For Tom Ford (with Stanley Tucci), fashion week is every week.
Alex Berliner/AB Images
Matthew DelPiano, Kevin Huvane, Alec Baldwin and Hilaria Baldwin
Alex Berliner/AB Images
The happy couple: Emmy Rossum and her husband Sam Esmail, who created "Mr. Robot"
Alex Berliner/AB Images
Robin Tunney and Shiri Appleby
Alex Berliner/AB Images
Dame Helen Mirren and Geoffrey Rush. (Mirren is one of only three actresses to win a Golden Globe, an Oscar and an Emmy in the same year.)
Alex Berliner/AB Images
On the way to milestone wins for "The Handmaid's Tale," Alexis Bledel hung out with one of the party hosts, Adam Berkowitz.
Alex Berliner/AB Images
Here comes the "Big Little Lies" gang -- Laura Dern, David E. Kelley and Reese Witherspoon -- and Ava DuVernay.
Alex Berliner/AB Images
Don't forget to eat. It's a misdemeanor to skip the eats at Bouchon. "Atlanta" star Brian Tyree Henry powered up. Later on Friday, his table at the EW party had all the social gravity, with Sterling K.Brown coming by to hang poolside.
Alex Berliner/AB Images
Max Winkler and Zoey Deutch know the rules
Alex Berliner/AB Images
Reese Witherspoon greets the chef, Thomas Keller
Alex Berliner/AB Images
CAA's Richard Lovett, Dern, Witherspoon and her husband Jim Toth
Alex Berliner/AB Images
Adam Sanderson and Discovery/Animal Planet/Science Channel chief Rich Ross
Alex Berliner/AB Images
Cohen, Bob Greenblatt and Bryan Lourd
Alex Berliner/AB Images
A lot of cable business could flow between this group: Bryan Lourd, Bonnie Hammer and Adam Berkowitz.
Alex Berliner/AB Images
Garcia, Huvane and Jerry Bruckheimer, who could win another Emmy for "The Amazing Race" on Sunday night.
Alex Berliner/AB Images
Always a bon vivant, Common made the scene.
Alex Berliner/AB Images
Dern and Kevin Bacon
Alex Berliner/AB Images
Geoffrey Rush is nominated for Lead Actor in a limited series for "Genius" and, by all photographic accounts, looks like he had a blast at the soiree.
Alex Berliner/AB Images
When the "Star Wars," "Star Trek," "Family Guy" and "Ted" universes collide, you get J.J. Abrams and Seth MacFarlane. Pray for a collaboration.

Also Read: Emmys 2017: 10 Biggest Potential Upsets, From ‘Stranger Things’ to ‘Black Mirror’ (Photos)
Alex Berliner/AB Images

1 of 26

As the captains of entertainment, sports, politics and fashion converge in Beverly Hills before the Emmy Awards, CAA is the straw that stirs the drink

As the captains of entertainment, sports, politics and fashion converge at Bouchon in Beverly Hills before the Emmy Awards, CAA is the straw that stirs the drink. With "Big Little Lies" scoring big in nominations, leads Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern favored heavily into the social equation.

View In Gallery

Is CAA's Emmy Celebration the New Vanity Fair Oscar Party? (Photos)

7DAYFREETRIAL

7
DAY
FREE
TRIAL