How ‘Vice’ Went from a $6 Billion Media Empire to Bankruptcy

Fifteen years ago, Vice was the envy of the media industry. While other outlets were shrinking, the edgy multimedia organization with a knack for virality was growing. At its peak, Vice had a reported value of $6 billion.

At one point, Disney offered to buy the company for $3.4 billion. The CEO said no. Something even bigger was on the horizon.

Except. . . it never came. No one else approached with another offer and the company started to collapse. Last year, Vice filed for bankruptcy.

The media narrative of what happened at Vice was that they simply made a series of business mistakes and the economic model of the business crumbled. But Michael Moynihan says that’s not the whole story. 

Michael—who Honestly listeners know as a frequent guest host here—is a longtime journalist who spent a decade at Vice. He was a correspondent for Vice’s flagship series on HBO. 

Today, he published a revealing insider story in The Free Press about how Vice really lost its way. Spoiler: apologizing for the gonzo journalism that fueled the business to begin with, and caving to an identity politics–obsessed staff of twentysomethings, isn’t exactly a recipe for success.

Vice didn’t just bleed cash. It also bled its backbone and its ethos. And the thing that replaced it? Well, no one wanted to consume it. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices