Vice Media is Now Valued at $1.4 Billion

Vice Media, the Williamsburg-based magazine-turned-publishing group known for its obsessive hipsterdom and recent expansion into online video, has sold a five percent stake to 21st Century Fox, Financial Times is reporting.

The deal values the share at $70 million, meaning the company in full amounts to $1.4 billion. For a sense of scale: John Henry paid $70 million for the Boston Globe two weeks ago, and Amazon's Jeff Bezos paid $250 for The Washington Post several days later. To buy Vice, which was founded as a Canadian music magazine in 1994, you'd have to pony up more than triple the cost of both newspapers combined.

These days, chief executive Shane sees the company as more of a global network—while preserving independent integrity:

“I want us to be the next MTV, ESPN and CNN rolled into one—and everyone always rolls their eyes,” said Shane Smith, Vice’s co-founder and chief executive.

“The reality is that MTV was bought by Viacom and CNN went to Time Warner. We have set ourselves up to build a global platform but we have maintained control.”

But the media world is gawking at the figure and wondering how if the company's gonzo-spirited brand has finally reached its corporate culmination:

Hipsters liked them before they sold out: Vice valued at $1.5 billion after selling 5% stake to 21st Century Fox. http://t.co/3sVzbNQiHJ

— Tom Gara (@tomgara) August 16, 2013

We are apporaching peak Hipster: Vice sells %5 stake to 21st Cent. Fox valued at $1.4 billion http://t.co/g7kTO3TC3G

— David Cohn (@Digidave) August 16, 2013

Cannot believe this was once just a "punk zine." Vice Media now valued at $1.4 billion http://t.co/XNSqSoKSsq (via @FT)

— Zoe Galland (@zoegalland) August 16, 2013

But should we really be surprised? It's news to no one that new media is expanding and newspapers nearly worthless, and journalists have been blasting Vice as sell-outs for longer than anyone can remember. (Only several months ago, the brand's mission to bring Dennis Rodman to North Korea won a profile in The New Yorker, as if Vice is any stranger to the media elite it once railed against.)

Plus, speculation regarding Rupert Murdoch's interest in Vice was sparked in 2012, when the media mogul politely asked his Twitter followers if they'd heard of the brand:

Who's heard of VICE media? Wild, interesting effort to interest millenials who don't read or watch established media. Global success.

— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) October 13, 2012

Indeed, they had. And they'll probably keep hearing about it for years to come.