Wenner Media, the company founded by publisher Jann Wenner, is selling its 49 per cent controlling stake in the iconic music magazine Rolling Stone, citing a desire “to best position the brand for future growth.”
Wenner, of course, started the magazine back in 1967 as a 21-year-old hippy student and has had a controlling stake in the business ever since.
However, in 2016 he sold 49 per cent of Rolling Stone to the Singapore-based digital music business BandLab Technologies. It’s believed the brand has been struggling financially for some time as music tastes change and readers go online.
According to the magazine’s Wikipedia site there are 21 international editions, including an Australian edition published by small independent publisher Paper Riot. The Australian license is believed to be the longest ongoing of all the international licenses, having launched way back in 1972.
In a media statement yesterday, Gus Wenner, president and chief operating officer of Wenner Media and Jann Wenner’s son, said: “Rolling Stone is a uniquely powerful brand with enormous opportunities to succeed in today’s environment.
“We have made great strides transforming Rolling Stone into a multi-platform company, and we are thrilled to find the right home to build on our strong foundation and grow the business exponentially.”
