Bloomberg was the first to break the news, presenting an internal memo from Forbes CEO Mike Federle.
“The acquisition of Forbes was aimed at influencing and selling the philosophy of smart business and philanthropy to the next generation of capitalism,” reads a statement provided by the Forbes family office. Austin Russell. ” At this point, we decided that it was in the best interests of the parties to terminate the contract. We wish the Forbes team nothing yet the most productive.
Russell, the 28-year-old founder and tech star, announced plans in May to buy an 82% stake in Forbes Global Media Holdings in a deal that values the company at about $800 million. The intention, which first proved effective, was aimed at attracting several investors to the acquisition. The deal was scheduled to close on Nov. 1 but collapsed after Indian investment corporation Sun Group and others failed to move the cash they were contractually bound to, Axios reported earlier this month. Sun Group Vice President Shiv Khemka has reportedly pledged to invest $300 million in the acquisition.
Russell was granted an extension of the deadline and has spent the past two weeks overcoming the multibillion-dollar deficit. On the other hand, an updated agreement sent to Camp Russell contained conditions addressed to the investment organization that others said were described as unsustainable. familiar with the matter.
Forbes, a media company perhaps best known for its magazine and billionaires lists, sold 95% of the company to Integrated Whale Media in 2014. Forbes Media had planned to go public with special purpose acquisition company Magnum Opus Acquisition Limited. It still canceled the deal in June 2022.
Forbes has since been up for sale. Russell, who was described by Forbes in 2021 as the world’s youngest billionaire, is the latest example of a tech mogul entering the media business. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post in 2013 and Salesforce chairman, CEO and co-founder Marc. Benioff and his wife Lynne Benioff acquired Time from parent company Meredith Corporation for $190 million in cash in 2018 More recently, Elon Musk bought Twitter in a tumultuous deal that resulted in the social media site converting its call to X.