Another tech billionaire turns media mogul

Where Jeff Bezos goes, other tech billionaires follow. The latest titan to invest in print media is Salesforce founder Marc Benioff who, along with wife Lynne, is buying Time magazine. The pair are using $190 million from their personal fortune to buy the esteemed title from current owners, Meredith.

Meredith has said that the Benioffs will not be directly involved with the title, and will have no say in its editorial decisions. It's likely that the pair will use their money and expertise to help Time improve its operations and, by extension, its bottom line. The WSJ believes that the title reaches over 30 million people a month, while its current owners put that figure closer to 100 million.

Benioff has said that Time is a company that has a "tremendous impact on the world," and is also an "incredibly strong business." He added that Time's power was in its "unique storytelling of the people and issues that affect us all."

The trend of tech billionaires investing small amounts of cash into print media is hotting up. In 2013, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post for $250 million. In the following years, the publication has become profitable, and made Bezos a political player. Last year, Laurene Powell Jobs, Steve Jobs' widow, purchased a stake in The Atlantic through her Emerson Collective Organization.

Source: WSJ, Meredith



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