Vox Media reportedly tried to sell its podcast network, and entire company, last year

In an age when media companies are dropping like flies or selling themselves off for parts, Vox Media has relatively stayed the course in recent years (several rounds of layoffs aside).

According to a report by Max Tani at Semafor, it’s not for a lack of trying.

Tani reported on Sunday that bankers working with Vox Media approached several media companies and investors last year with various offers. One was for a potential buyer to take over the Vox Media Podcast Network, which includes A Touch More with Sue Bird & Megan Rapinoe, WNBA show Bird’s Eye View, and Not Just Football with Cam Heyward. A second offer was for legacy brand New York Magazine. And a third offer was for someone to buy the entire company outright.

The podcast offer was, according to Tani, “the most widely-circulated option,” which makes sense considering that, according to Axios, the company’s board discussed spinning off the podcast arm last year.

Tani noted that it appears the media company, which owns SB Nation, Vox, Eater, The Verge, and other brands, has changed course, informing potential investors in February that the podcast network was not for sale.

A Vox Media spokesperson declined to comment to Semafor.

Vox has made for a curious media story over the years. Originating as SB Nation, it launched The Verge in 2011 and later became Vox Media, acquiring or launching several other notable media outlets in the years that followed. In recent years, it’s become known as much for its seemingly never-ending rounds of layoffs, shifting resources, and shuttering sites and brands as it evolves. While it was valued at $1 billion in 2015, that figure had halved by 2023.

The way the industry is going, it’s hard to imagine a company like Vox Media will be able to continue going it alone for much longer, but it’s also bucked the odds by surviving this long, so who knows.