Radical Left Vice Media is Begging for Money As They Suffer Ratings Failure

Vice Media is not in what you would call ‘healthy shape.’ As the company attempts to secure a buyer to the tune of a $1.5 billion dollar valuation, in spite of failing to make its $700 million earnings projection last year, it has now borrowed an additional $30 million just to keep the lights on. That’s in addition to the quarter of a billion dollar loan it took in 2019 to keep afloat.

According to The Wall Street Journal the once prominent publisher, “owes millions of dollars to vendors and advisers, some of whom haven’t been paid for more than six months, according to people familiar with the matter. Some vendors have resorted to collections agencies to retrieve payments.”

The new injection of funds reportedly comes from Fortress Investment Group as the Brooklyn headquartered firm continues to implode along with its subsidiary brands Vice News, Motherboard, Refinery29, and Vice TV from its peak early valuation of $5.7 billion.

Fortress was reportedly part of a consortium of lenders that raised the $250 million that kept the company alive in 2019 and would be among the first to get paid in an eventual sale.

A Vice spokesman told WSJ that it has launched a new process driven by a merger and acquisitions committee to locate a new buyer after a $700 million possible merger with Greek broadcaster Antenna Group died in negotiations.

Vice was co-founded by Gavin McInnes, Suroosh Alvi, and Shane Smith. The only remaining original owner is Smith who retains 20%, the rest is owned by shareholders, Walt Disney Company, A&E Networks, and even Soros Fund Management.

After ousting McInnes in 2008 after 14 years of his leadership, Vice became a haven for radical leftist, progressive “woke” culture and ideology. A far cry from the hipster libertarian turned Proud Boys founder’s worldview.

Once it embraced the left-leaning, globalist political bent, Vice was embraced by the money-men of Wall Street and Fifth Avenue and became a billion-dollar enterprise, only to fade and finally implode after the end of the first term of President Donald Trump. Like so many in the establishment media, the publication seemed addicted to bashing Trump and it looks like it won’t survive without him in the White House.

The WSJ reports that Vice owes millions to multiple vendors and advisors. Many of them haven’t been paid in years and Vice has even cut contact with some. Among them are; Air.TV owed about $400,000 for ads and content placement, Ranker for polling services and content ranking in the ballpark of about $900,000, as well as Nielsen and Cardinal Path for undisclosed amounts.

It seems likely that Vice’s stakeholders are holding out for two possibilities: 1.) A potential sale or 2.) The second term of President Donald J. Trump to rejuvenate them.