James and Kathryn Murdoch on Buying New York Magazine

James and Kathryn Murdoch bought New York magazine, the Vox Media Podcast Network, and Vox.com for more than $300 million, Vanity Fair reports. Days after the deal closed, they toured the New York magazine office and hit the archives: the Cosby accusers cover, the Brooke Shields 1977 cover (the one with the line about "she poses nude"), Donald Trump in a George Washington wig. Staffers saw this as a sign of genuine passion, not a vanity project.

James Murdoch, 53, knows media. He was four when his father Rupert bought New York and 18 when he sold it. He left News Corp after the Disney acquisition, which netted him $2 billion, plus $1.1 billion from brother Lachlan's buyout. Now he and Kathryn, 54, run Lupa, their investment company, which also owns the Tribeca Film Festival and Art Basel.

Why New York magazine? James told Vanity Fair the business model stood out: "They didn't go down the road of just search engine optimization and serving all that sort of stuff that we've seen other magazines do. They've really doubled down on the commitment to this thoughtful long-form journalism." In an age of AI and algorithmic feeds, he believes "authentic authorship by humans" is worth investing in.

The couple is keeping the current management: editor David Haskell, Vox podcast chief Ray Chao, and CEO Jim Bankoff stay on. James called the staff "rightfully" proud of their National Magazine Awards.

On the family rift: James wouldn't touch it. When asked if he's as embarrassed about Fox as he was in 2020, he said, "I'm not commenting on that whole world." He hasn't watched Succession. The estrangement from his father and brother appears permanent: sources on both sides told Vanity Fair they will never reconcile. Kathryn said their three children can have whatever relationship with Rupert they want.

The Murdochs are also funding centrist Democrats through Majority Democrats. Kathryn said the extremes are "detrimental to our democracy" and wants to "stop that spiral."

James sits on Tesla's board. When asked about Elon Musk's X, he said Tesla "doesn't have anything to do with X" and defended the company's mission on renewable energy.

And AI? Lupa uses it in India to "generate higher production values at lower cost." James once sent an AI-generated disco Lord of the Rings parody to his family. They found it "appalling."

James's 2009 MacTaggart Lecture argued that "the only reliable, durable, and perpetual guarantor of independence is profit." Does he still believe that? He told Vanity Fair that "maximizing profit is about taking advantage of your customers" and a media owner has "100 percent" responsibility beyond shareholder value.

The name Murdoch still carries baggage. But James and Kathryn are betting that thoughtful journalism, not algorithm-driven content, is the future.