Founding and early years (1994–2005) Voice (later
Voices of Montreal) was founded by Alix Laurent of Interimages Communications in October 1994, with
Suroosh Alvi as editor and
Gavin McInnes as assistant editor, with Shane Smith joining the magazine's staff later. It initially focused on
drug culture,
skateboarding,
art,
music, and
trends. The magazine focused on Montreal's alternative cultural scene, to compete with the already established
Montreal Mirror. Alvi, McInnes and Smith bought out the publisher and changed the magazine's name to
Vice in 1996.
Digital expansion (2006–2011) In 2006, on the advice of creative director
Spike Jonze, Vice began expanding into digital video, launching new video service
VBS.tv as a joint venture with
MTV Networks. In 2007, Vice Media began expanding its digital video operation, launching new channels, such as
Motherboard (tech),
Noisey (music), and
The Creators Project, an arts/technology site founded in partnership with
Intel. Vice Media would later launch sites around
electronic music culture (
Thump), global news (
Vice News), food (
Munchies) and sports (
Vice Sports). Additionally, Vice Media launched Virtue Worldwide, a creative services agency, to expand their capabilities for work around their platforms. During this time, Santiago Stelley was the director of content of VBS.tv (20062010) and creative director of Vice Media (20102012). In January 2008, co-founder Gavin McInnes left Vice Media due to "creative differences" with the company, According to
Columbia Journalism Review, Vice has altered shots during the editing process in pursuit of more entertaining or impressive scenes. In a 2011 documentary on Libya, a voiceover from the reporter claims that he had gone to the frontlines amidst an offensive, while in contrast a source claims the reporter did not make the trip, with only a cameraman going there. In mid-August 2013,
Rupert Murdoch's
21st Century Fox invested US$70 million in Vice Media, resulting in a 5% stake. Following the announcement, Smith explained: "We have set ourselves up to build a global platform but we have maintained control." In 2013, Vice Media premiered a new 30-minute news program for
HBO titled
Vice, executive produced by
Bill Maher. In 2014, the second season of the show won a
Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Series or Special in the
66th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards. In 2014, Vice Media launched its news channel,
Vice News, which almost immediately gained global attention for its coverage of protests and conflict in
Ukraine and
Venezuela. As of October 2014, the editor of BBC Radio 1's
Newsbeat claimed the BBC was "playing catch-up" to Vice News. Vice Media has routinely advocated for their "immersionist" brand of journalism in the pursuit of more authentic and interesting stories. Their founders and editors have regularly garnered controversy from the likes of
The New York Times David Carr, who bristled in an exchange with Shane Smith in the 2011 documentary
Page One: Inside the New York Times. In a 2014
Time column, Carr said that
Vice had since grown into a strong news entity. In August 2014, Carr published a
New York Times column further reversing his earlier criticism of Vice, saying: "Being the crusty old-media scold felt good at the time, but recent events suggest that Vice is deadly serious about doing real news that people, yes, even young people, will actually watch." On 2 July 2014, Vice Media announced that it would be relocating into a warehouse space in Williamsburg that had been occupied by the independent arts spaces and concert venues
285 Kent,
Death by Audio and
Glasslands, among others. Vice and the building property owners facilitated the clearance of the building and the displacement of the existing creative tenants. Vice spent US$20 million to renovate the building as part of an eight-year lease, facilitating the establishment of new production facilities with full broadcast capabilities, and received an offer of US$6.5 million in tax credits from New York state's Empire State Development. In August 2014,
A&E Networks, a television group jointly owned by
The Walt Disney Company and
Hearst Corporation, made a US$250-million investment in Vice Media for an ownership stake of 10%. In November and December 2015, Disney made two additional individual investments of US$200 million totalling $400 million. On 26 March 2015, HBO announced it would renew its contract to broadcast the weekly
Vice documentary series for four years, while expanding the annual broadcast schedule from 14 to nearly 30 episodes. The network also announced Vice would be launching a nightly news program. The show, entitled
Vice News Tonight, premiered on 10 October 2016 and was planned to run 48 weeks each year, featuring pre-edited video and graphics segments covering global news, technology, the environment, economics and pop culture, while eschewing the use of live TV anchors. In November 2015, Vice and A&E Networks announced
Viceland, a then-upcoming cable network that would feature Vice-produced content. That same month, Vice announced a wide range of content deals which would make its programming available in more than 80 territories by the end of 2017. In September 2018, Disney wrote down its investment in Vice by $157 million. Disney acquired Fox's stake in Vice when
its acquisition of 21st Century Fox completed in March 2019. On 23 December 2017,
The New York Times reported that there had been four settlements involving allegations of
sexual harassment or
defamation against Vice employees. In addition, over 20 other women stated that they had experienced or witnessed
sexual misconduct, including unwanted kisses, groping, lewd remarks and propositions for sex at the company. In a statement provided to
The New York Times, Vice co-founders Shane Smith and Suroosh Alvi said, "from the top down, we have failed as a company to create a safe and inclusive workplace where everyone, especially women, can feel respected and thrive." In January 2018, Vice's COO/CFO Sarah Broderick sent a memo to staff on 2 January 2018 announcing President Creighton had volunteered to go on temporary leave whilst a new investigation into a $135,000 settlement from a case the company paid in 2016 to a former employee who alleged she was fired after turning him down, and the suspension of Mike Germano, who had served as chief digital officer. Germano founded Carrot Creative, which was acquired by Vice in 2013; he was accused of pulling a former colleague onto his lap at a company party, as well as telling his former strategist Amanda Rue he originally did not want to hire her "because he wanted to have sex with her." Vice has also been criticized by current and former employees for featuring work by
Terry Richardson, a photographer facing accusations of
sexual abuse by multiple models. "Smith will now be focused on creating content and strategic deals and partnerships to help grow the company." On 20 August 2018, Vice's
Munchies and Fremantle Media signed a deal with Triple Five Group to gain control of the food hall at American Dream Meadowlands. The food hall was expected to open in April 2019. In November 2018,
The Wall Street Journal reported that Vice Media was looking to trim its workforce by 10–15%, relying on attrition rather than layoffs. The same month, CEO Nancy Dubuc told an audience at
The New York Times Dealbook conference that Vice would return to profitability the following year. In March 2019, it was reported that Vice Media was looking to raise another $200 million in funding. On 1 May 2019, Vice consolidated many of its web channels back into one central platform turning them into feature sections. The move included independent
Munchies,
Noisey,
Motherboard,
Broadly,
Free,
Amuse,
Tonic,
Waypoint, and
Vice Sports. Vice also ended its block on the ad industry's keyword blacklist of 25 terms. On 3 May 2019, Vice Media announced that it raised $250 million in debt from
George Soros and other investors. In October, Vice Media announced that it was acquiring
Refinery29. The deal, worth a reported $400 million, valued the combined company at $4 billion. In June 2020, Vice Media launched an investigation into allegations of subsidiary Refinery29's
toxic work environment. In March 2020, Vice Media organized the Azimuth Music Festival in
Saudi Arabia, less than two years after Vice paused all work in Saudi Arabia following the
assassination of Jamal Khashoggi. Vice's brand was not used on marketing material, and contractors had to sign
non-disclosure agreements regarding Vice's involvement. Vice opened a commercial and creative office in
Riyadh in 2022. On 2 October 2020, Vice Media Group appointed Nadja Bellan-White as the global CMO, to be in charge of worldwide branding, communications and promotions. It was also announced that Meera Pattni had been promoted to VP Communications, directly reporting to Bellan-White. In April 2021, Van Scott, former ABC News communications executive, joined Vice as VP Corporate Communications to lead communications in the US. Scott would report to Laura Misselbrook, Global SVP Communications, based in London. In April 2021, Vice Media was criticized by
Cambodians after publishing colorized images of the victims of the
Khmer Rouge Genocide, some of which had smiles
photoshopped onto their faces. Vice later admitted to the images being photoshopped and said that "We regret the error and will investigate how this failure of the editorial process occurred." In March 2021, it was claimed that "VICE Media Group is the world's largest independent youth media company", with offices in 35 cities across the world. Its five key businesses were listed as: Vice.com (digital content); Vice Studios (film and TV production); Vice TV; Vice News; and Virtue (an agency offering creative services). In September 2021, it was reported that Vice raised another investment round following cancelled plans to go public via
special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
Bankruptcy and sale (2023–present) In January 2023, Vice began exploring the possibility of selling itself. On 24 February 2023, Dubuc left as CEO as the company faced problems with turning an annual profit and finding a buyer. Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala were appointed co-CEOs on 27 February, a few days after Dubuc's departure. It was announced in April 2023 that Vice Media was restructuring and downsizing its Vice News division due to budget problems. This action included the cancellation of
Vice News Tonight and other programs and the layoffs of dozens of employees. According to
Deadline, Vice's primary debt-holder,
Fortress Investment Group, would likely take control of Vice Media as a result of any
Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Two weeks later, on 15 May, Vice Media formally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as part of a possible sale to a consortium of lenders including
Fortress Investment Group, which would, alongside Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital, invest $225 million as a credit bid for nearly all of its assets. The following month, Vice accepted the consortium's increased offer of $350million prior to the bankruptcy auction. The company drew criticism for generous executive compensation packages while employees dealt with layoffs and unpaid company bills. The sale was closed in August 2023. Lokhandwala resigned as co-CEO in December, leaving Bruce Dixon as sole CEO. On 22 February 2024, CEO Bruce Dixon announced "several hundred" additional layoffs as part of a company restructuring. Chris Thompson of
Defector commented that "admirers of Vice's journalism—Vice News and Motherboard, both of which were largely kerploded during Vice's bankruptcy, had made themselves essential with years of excellent reporting—have long daydreamed about a future where its owners and executives stopped trying to turn it into a leprechaun's pot of gold and just allowed it to be a good website. [...] Instead of protecting it as responsible stewards, they treated it more or less the way Paul Cicero treated the Bamboo Lounge in
Goodfellas, fattening themselves at its expense until there was nothing left to rob, and then burning it to the ground". In April 2024, Vice Media sold
Refinery29 to
Essence magazine owner Sundial Media Group. Later that month, Vice Media announced it had restructured its global production business, now called Vice Studios Group, into five units: Pulse Films, UnTypical (formerly Vice Studios), Vice Studios LatAm, Vice Studios Canada and a news documentary unit. Vice Studios Group will be led by Jamie Hall and Danny Gabai as co-presidents. In September, Vice Media relaunched its print magazine which had been on hiatus since 2019. Issues will be released quarterly. The company has a goal of reaching 20,000 subscribers within a year. ==Key business properties==