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[1/2] Co-Founders of VICE Shane Smith (L) and Suroosh Alvi (R) pose as they arrive for the 20th Annual Webby Awards in Manhattan, New York, U.S., May 16, 2016. REUTERS/Mike SegarMay 15 (Reuters) - Vice Media Group, popular for websites such as Vice and Motherboard, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday to engineer its sale to a group of lenders, capping years of financial difficulties and top-executive departures. Vice listed both assets and liabilities in the range of $500 million to $1 billion. Vice was among a group of fast-rising digital media ventures that once had rich valuations as they courted millennial audiences. It rose to prominence alongside its co-founder Shane Smith, who built his media empire from a single Canadian magazine.

☆ Vice Media to Sell Itself as It Files for Bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Dave Sebastian | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Vice said its media brands will continue to produce content. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty ImagesVice Media, the once-hot digital news startup that was valued at $5.7 billion at its peak, said it has received a rescue offer and filed for bankruptcy protection. The company, whose assets include Vice News, Vice TV, Refinery29 and Motherboard, on Monday said a group of its creditors, including Soros Fund Management, Fortress Investment Group and Monroe Capital , has agreed to buy Vice for about $225 million and take on “significant liabilities.” The agreement is subject to higher bids from other parties, it said.

☆ Vice, Decayed Digital Colossus, Files for Bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Lauren Hirsch | Benjamin Mullin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Vice Media filed for bankruptcy on Monday, punctuating a yearslong descent from a new-media darling to a cautionary tale of the problems facing the digital publishing industry. A group of Vice’s lenders, including Fortress Investment Group and Soros Fund Management, is in the leading position to acquire the company out of bankruptcy. The group has submitted a bid of $225 million, which would be covered by its existing loans to the company. It would also take over “significant liabilities” from Vice after any deal closes. The lenders have secured a $20 million loan to continue operating Vice and then, if a better bid does not emerge, the group that includes Fortress and Soros will acquire Vice.

☆ Vice Media files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

London CNN —Vice Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday to facilitate a sale of the company, according to court documents and a statement from the struggling media group. The company, which publishes websites such as Vice, Motherboard, made the filing in the Southern District of New York. The sale process would allow other parties to submit “higher or better bids” for the company, it added. “This accelerated court-supervised sale process will strengthen the company and position Vice for long-term growth,” said co-chief executive officers Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala. News of the proposed sale comes weeks after the company announced a major restructuring, canceling its popular program “Vice News Tonight” and cutting dozens of jobs.

☆ Vice Media files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to facilitate sale
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 15 (Reuters) - Vice Media Group, popular for websites such as Vice and Motherboard, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday to engineer its sale to a group of lenders, capping years of financial difficulties and top-executive departures. The company listed both assets and liabilities in the range of $500 million to $1 billion, according to a court filing. Vice was among a group of fast-rising digital media ventures that once commanded rich valuations as they courted millennial audiences. It rose to prominence alongside its co-founder, Shane Smith, who built his media empire from a single Canadian magazine. In April, the company said it would cancel popular TV program "Vice News Tonight" as part of a broader restructuring that would result in job cuts across the digital media firm's global news business.

☆ Vice Media Nears Deal for $400 Million Sale Out of Bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Alexander Saeedy | Jodi Xu Klein | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Vice Media is nearing a deal for senior lenders including Fortress Investment Group and Soros Fund Management to acquire the troubled media company out of bankruptcy at a valuation of around $400 million, according to people familiar with the matter. Nearly every Vice stockholder—including backers such as private-equity firm TPG Group, Sixth Street Partners and media mogul James Murdoch—would be wiped out under the proposed reorganization, the people familiar with the matter said. Outstanding debts held by TPG and Sixth Street would also be impaired as part of the plan, the people said. The Murdoch family is a major shareholder in Journal parent News Corp .

☆ Vice Media preparing to file for bankruptcy - NYT
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Mike SegarMay 1 (Reuters) - Vice Media Group, the company behind popular media websites such as Vice and Motherboard, is preparing to file for bankruptcy, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing people with knowledge of its operations. "Vice Media Group has been engaged in a comprehensive evaluation of strategic alternatives and planning. Last week, Vice Media said it will cancel popular TV program "Vice News Tonight" as part of a broader restructuring that will result in job cuts across the digital media firm's global news business, capping years of financial difficulties and top-executive departures. Vice Media was among a group of fast-rising digital media ventures that once commanded rich valuations, as they courted millennial audiences. It rose to prominence alongside its provocative co-founder, Shane Smith, who built his media empire from a single Canadian magazine.

☆ Vice Media reportedly preparing to file for bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Vice Media Group, the company behind popular media websites such as Vice and Motherboard, is preparing to file for bankruptcy, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing people with knowledge of its operations. The media firm has received interest from five companies and might consider a sale to avoid bankruptcy, the NYT report said, adding that in the event of a bankruptcy, which could happen in the coming weeks, Vice's debtholder Fortress Investment Group could end up controlling the company. "Vice Media Group has been engaged in a comprehensive evaluation of strategic alternatives and planning. The company, its board and stakeholders continue to be focused on finding the best path for the company," the company spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement. Its potential bankruptcy comes as several other media and technology firms have had to downsize in recent months due to a challenging economy and a weak advertising market.

☆ Inside the demise of Vice, from turning away a $3.5 billion Disney offer to a 'painful' downward spiral that has the media giant scrambling for a buyer
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

The talks fizzled, Disney backed off, and Smith set off for California to drum up other interest in Vice Media. Vice Media Group co-CEOs Bruce Dixon, left, and Hozefa Lokhandwala. Vice Media GroupOne former Vice insider familiar with the current situation told Insider that staffers were warning vendors they needed to threaten to stop work in order to get paid. Just a few months later, Rupert Murdoch tweeted, "Who's heard of Vice Media? Refinery29 quickly lost key staff and was not well integrated into Vice Media, the two former staffers said.

☆ Why Goldman Sachs alumni are being hoovered up by elite hedge funds like Citadel and Millennium
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Alex Morrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

In November, one of the world's most consequential hedge funds announced a shake-up at the top of its power structure. In an internal memo, the founder of Millennium Management, Izzy Englander, said that Bobby Jain would be vacating the co-CIO role. "You can't readily find that managerial experience at other hedge funds and Goldman is a perfect place to look for those people." 8 former Goldman Sachs leaders are now Millennium execsEnglander isn't alone — firms rarely are in the copycat world of multistrats. In a statement to Insider, Abbey Collins, a spokesperson for Goldman Sachs, said, "Goldman Sachs has always been and remains a talent magnet.

Nancy Dubuc notified Vice Media staffers on Friday that she's stepping down from her post as CEO after five years at the company. Dubuc joined Vice in 2018 after leaving her post as CEO of A+E Networks, where she had worked for 20 years. "We thank Nancy for her many contributions and will soon announce new leadership to guide VICE forward into its next stage of growth and transformation." Dubuc's departure comes as Vice, like its digital media peers, facing ongoing challenges with shrinking audience numbers and advertising. Still, Vice ended 2022 with a slight gain in revenue, although the business deteriorated among the macroeconomic headwinds, CNBC previously reported.

Vice Media has struggled for years to show rapid growth and live up to an early valuation of $5.7 billion. Vice Media has secured more than $30 million in debt financing from Fortress Investment Group, according to a person familiar with the matter, as the new-media company faces a financial crunch. Vice, which is trying to sell itself, 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, some of the people said.

Vice Media is restarting its sale process after earlier interested bidders balked at the initial price tag, according to people familiar with the situation. The digital media company, which was valued at $5.7 billion in 2017, is now likely to fetch a price of below $1 billion, the people said. Initially, Vice was looking for a valuation between $1 billion and $1.5 billion, one of the people added. A Vice Media spokesperson declined to comment. Meanwhile, Buzzfeed , the only digital media company to IPO, has seen its stock fall roughly 90% since going public in 2021.

☆ Investment Giant Fortress to Help Fund Kushner Takeover Bid of Rival Property Owner Veris
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Peter Grant | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Fortress Investment Group has agreed to help finance Kushner Cos.’ unsolicited $4.3 billion bid to buy rival apartment building owner Veris Residential Inc., according to a letter from Fortress to Veris’s board. The Nov. 17 letter, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, said affiliates of Fortress, a large investment management firm based in New York City, “are prepared to finance the debt and equity needed to consummate” Kushner’s $16 a share offer, subject to due diligence.

Nov 15 (Reuters) - A federal jury in Texas on Tuesday said Intel Corp (INTC.O) must pay VLSI Technology LLC $948.8 million for infringing a VLSI patent for computer chips. Last March VLSI won a nearly $2.2 billion verdict from Intel in a separate Texas trial over different chip patents, which Intel has appealed. VLSI lost another related patent trial against Intel the following month. An attorney for VLSI said at trial that Intel's chips cause "millions and millions of infringements per second." Two other patent cases brought by VLSI against Intel are still pending in Northern California and Delaware.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried wanted to let retail investors borrow money to trade crypto derivatives: CFTC head
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

He also wanted to offer the contracts directly to users, without having to go through a futures commission merchant. Prior to its bankruptcy filing last week, FTX had a registered derivatives platform with the CFTC called FTX US Derivatives. FTX US Derivatives is one of the few FTX-related properties that's not a part of its bankruptcy proceedings and remains operational today. And Zach Dexter, who was CEO of FTX US Derivatives, says on his LinkedIn profile that he's CEO at LedgerX. Since then, LedgerX has reportedly withdrawn its application for leveraged derivatives trading.

☆ Japan's Seven & i to sell Sogo & Seibu unit to U.S. fund Fortress
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Japan's Seven & i Holdings Co Ltd (3382.T) said on Friday it will sell its Sogo & Seibu department store unit to U.S. fund Fortress Investment Group. The transfer price will be based on 250 billion yen ($1.77 billion) in enterprise value for Sogo & Seibu, adjusted by net debt and working capital, Seven & i said in a release. Electronics retailer Yodobashi Holdings will be a partner in the deal with Fortress, which is controlled by Japan's SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T). Yodobashi is expected to set up outlets within Sogo & Seibu locations, the Nikkei newspaper reported earlier this week. Seven & i shares rose 0.3% in Tokyo trading compared with a 3% jump in the benchmark Nikkei (.N225) index.

☆ Japan's Seven & i Holdings to sell Sogo & Seibu unit to Fortress -sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

TOKYO, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Japan's Seven & i Holdings Co Ltd (3382.T) has decided to sell its Sogo & Seibu department store unit to U.S. fund Fortress Investment Group, people familiar with the matter said on Friday. Seven & i held an extraordinary board meeting on Friday to decide on the sale to the SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) controlled fund, the people said. Reporting by Mariko Katsumura, Ritsuko Shimizu and Rocky Swift; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fake German heiress Anna Sorokin is hosting exclusive invite-only dinner parties at her Manhattan apartment while on house arrest
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Con artist Anna Sorokin is making her way back into the NYC social scene by hosting dinner parties in her apartment, Eater reports. Sorokin was released from ICE custody in October, but remains under house arrest in her Manhattan apartment. Sorokin, now 31, is currently under house arrest in her East Village apartment, but the ankle monitor hasn't stopped her from hosting invite-only dinner parties, Fortune reports. Sorokin is required to wear an ankle monitor during her house arrest, but it hasn't stopped her from expressing her fashion sense. The former fake heiress will remain under house arrest, which includes a social media ban, until her battle with ICE to remain in the US is settled.

☆ Equifax fired at least two dozen employees after it used its own tool to suss out if workers had a second job
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Four of the big six US banks (JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo) all report their Q3 earnings today. Our friends over at Markets Insider will have the immediate reaction to all the revenue numbers as they're posted. That's clearly the message at Equifax, which fired at least 24 workers for secretly having second jobs, Insider reported Thursday. "I'm not sure how Equifax can be trusted with data when it uses it to spy on its own employees," an Equifax employee told Insider. Read our full story on how Equifax used its own tool to figure out if employees were working second jobs.

☆ Anna Sorokin, of 'Inventing Anna' fame, goes out and about for the first time since release from jail
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Anna Sorokin was released from ICE custody Friday and went out for the first time Wednesday to see her parole officer. Although she is under house arrest and banned from social media, Sorokin says 'wait and see' what's next for her. Sorokin's exploits prompted a Netflix series, "Inventing Anna," released in February 2022. She was taken to the FBI's lower Manhattan headquarters to complete paperwork before arriving at a residential building in the East Village, the New York Post reports. Sorokin gained infamy thanks to a 2018 New York Magazine piece detailing her crimes, which was followed by a 2022 Netflix series titled "Inventing Anna."

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