Vice Media Seeks Expansion

Vice Media Group wants to expand its already large empire, and to do so, has enlisted a little help from some big friends. According to The New York Times, the company is about to announce three new investors – Tom Freston, one of the founders of MTV, the media giant WPP, and the investment firm Raine Group – that will help it grow.

The sum of the investment is reportedly in the high eight figures, and is going to aide with additional international expansion, as well as increased news and sports coverage.

Vice already employs over 700 people across dozens of countries, so constantly expanding might threaten the brand image. Freston says he isn’t worried about that happening at Vice:

I do believe their business is at a scale where it can sizably increase without them having to be some sellout, oversized corporate machine, which is what you see so often. I think they can keep their own peculiar way.

We definitely don’t associate Vice with news or sports, but maybe with that kind of money being pumped in, the company can change that train of thought. It’s going to need a good conductor to make that happen.

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