In another crossover between the tech and media landscape, Laurene Powell Jobs — widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs — has taken a controlling interest in The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Group chairman and owner David G. Bradley announced on Friday.
The Emerson Collective, an organization focused on “education, immigration reform, the environment, and other social justice initiatives,” and spearheaded by Powell Jobs, will take the helm of the popular publication. With the majority stake, Emerson Collective adds another media outlet to its arsenal, as it’s already invested in Anonymous Content — Steve Golin’s production company behind “The Revenant” and “Spotlight” — and The California Sunday Magazine. A graduate of Penn and Stanford Business School, Powell Jobs was also an investor and board member of Ozy.com, an online news site.
There is also a deeper connection between The Atlantic and Powell Jobs beyond the similarities in politics; the magazine shared: “Powell Jobs noted that Ralph Waldo Emerson, a co-founder of The Atlantic, inspired the name and the mission of her organization.”
Powell Jobs credited The Atlantic for its efforts to “bring about equality for all people; to illuminate and defend the American idea; to celebrate American culture and literature; and to cover our marvelous, and sometimes messy, democratic experiment.”
The buyout will not impact Atlantic Media Group’s other properties, including Quartz, Government Executive and National Journal. They’ll continue to be owned by Bradley, a veteran of the publishing business. He’s owned The Atlantic for 18 years, turning the magazine’s finances around and adding to its staff along the way. Bradley — much like his flagship magazine — is well-known for his ability to see the point-of-view of the right and the left, and has contributed to politicians like Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, and Barack Obama.
If you’re keeping track, that’s the third major tech-media combo in the last few years. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos plopped down $250 million for the Washington Post in 2013, and Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes purchased a controlling stake in the New Republic the year before.
But The Atlantic’s announcement made clear the sale had nothing to do with its ability to turn a profit, saying it was “not ailing” like the Washington Post and New Republic (ouch).
Founded in 1857, The Atlantic was based in Boston for a number of years before switching its headquarters to Washington, DC in 2006. Bradley bought the centrist outlet in 1999 for $10 million.
The terms of the purchase were not disclosed by The Atlantic or Emerson Collective.
'Minority Report' and 18 More Movies That Accurately Predicted Future Tech (Photos)
Steven Spielberg's tech-heavy "Minority Report," starring Tom Cruise, is now 15 years old. Considered one of the most prescient sci-fi movies to grace the big screen, it predicted multiple future innovations, including facial recognition, personalize advertising and predictive crime fighting. In honor of the movie's anniversary, click through here to revisit 18 more movies that accurately peered into the future of technology:
20th Century Fox
We're so used to touch screens at this point -- we use them every day on our smart phones, and even at McDonald's -- that it's easy to forget that Tom Cruise used the technology in "Minority Report."
20th Century Fox
Long before Siri, there was HAL. The ominous yet soft-spoken computer system was the antagonist in 1968's "2001: A Space Odyssey." Stanley Kubrick's sinister talking computer ended up turning on its crew in a Siri user's worst nightmare.
MGM
Tech giant Elon Musk is at the helm of SpaceX, which will send two tourists to space in 2018. But "2001: A Space Odyssey" imagined commercial space travel decades ago.
MGM
Elon Musk, Google and Uber have been duking it out to bring self-driving cars to the masses, but Arnold Schwarzenegger might have jumpstarted the competition when he took a robot-controlled ride in 1990's "Total Recall."
TriStar Pictures
"The Terminator" predicted military drones in 1984 -- long before they were introduced to police forces and militaries.
Orion Pictures
Virtual reality is taking over the tech scene. You can play games in VR, watch movies and experience Coachella all from the comfort of your living room. But Hollywood predicted we'd have VR more than 20 years ago in 1992's "Lawnmower Man."
New Line Cinema
The 1982 cult classic "Blade Runner," starring Harrison Ford, predicted digital billboards, which you can see now all over the country, from Times Square in New York to the Vegas strip.
Warner Bros.
Remember when the TSA rolled out invasive body scanners and a lot of people freaked out? "Airplane II: The Sequel" imagined airport scanners that revealed a person's naked body to agents.
Woody Allen's "Sleeper" had robots assisting surgeons by offering advice during surgery. Today, doctors use robotics to add precision to procedures.
United Artists
The beloved 1960s cartoon "The Jetsons" -- which was made into a movie in 1990 -- predicted the use of robots to clean homes. They had a robotic vacuum and a robotic maid. Can you say Roomba?
ABC
In vitro fertilization and at-home genetic testing are common place these days. "Gattaca," with Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, predicted this tech in 1997.
We know how dangerous cyber warfare is, and countless companies have been hacked recently. 1983's "WarGames" with Matthew Broderick is all about a kid who walks the line between gaming and reality.
MGM
FaceTime, and Skype before it, are commonplace today. But it was cool new technology in 1989's "Back to the Future Part II."
Universal Pictures
There are a ton of different options out there for smart watches. This was predicted in 1990's "Dick Tracy."
Touchstone Pictures
It's so easy to order Domino's online -- you can even watch how far along in the process your pizza is. In 1995's "The Net" with Sandra Bullock, they showed ordering pizza online for the first time.
Columbia Pictures
Tinder, Bumble and OKCupid are only a few of the many, many online dating options out there. But Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks were on the forefront of the online dating trend in "You've Got Mail."
Warner Bros.
VR porn is growing in popularity. Or as it's called in 1993's "Demolition Man" -- "digitized transference of sexual energies."
Warner Bros.
The 1929 movie "Woman in the Moon" predicted space travel. Obviously, we hit that milestone decades ago. And hey, they even got the shuttle shape right!
From robotic vacuums to smart watches, Hollywood got these tech trends right
Steven Spielberg's tech-heavy "Minority Report," starring Tom Cruise, is now 15 years old. Considered one of the most prescient sci-fi movies to grace the big screen, it predicted multiple future innovations, including facial recognition, personalize advertising and predictive crime fighting. In honor of the movie's anniversary, click through here to revisit 18 more movies that accurately peered into the future of technology: