Penske Media acquires Vox Media brands The Verge, Eater, SB Nation and more, creating world's largest digital publisher

The acquisition

On June 18, 2026, Penske Media Corporation (PMC) announced the acquisition of Vox Media's remaining publishing brands: Eater, The Verge, SB Nation, POPSUGAR, The Dodo, Punch, Thrillist, Vox Studios, and Vox Creative, as well as its Concert ad marketplace and Forte data platform. PMC was already the largest shareholder in Vox, having taken a 20% stake in 2023. The deal creates a new subsidiary called PMX, which combines the acquired titles with PMC's existing portfolio (Variety, Rolling Stone, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, and many others), totaling more than 25 brands. The combined entity, which PMC says is the world's largest digital publisher, reaches hundreds of millions of people each month and produces over 300 live events per year.

Leadership

Former Vox Media president Ryan Pauley will head PMX as president, reporting to PMC chairman and CEO Jay Penske and PMC president Craig Perreault. Pauley, who has been with Vox since 2013, oversaw revenue and operations, and helped build Vox's subscription, podcasting, and live events businesses. PMC also elevated Tom Finn to chief operating officer of PMX and broadened Ken Delalcazar's role to include chief financial officer of PMX.

“I am very proud to welcome this tremendous team and leading brands to Penske Media.”

“These distinct digital brands bring highly engaged audiences with them, complement our existing portfolio, strengthen our content offering, and expand the possibilities for the hundreds of live events PMX will produce each year.”

Winding down an era

The transaction comes just weeks after Vox Media sold its other assets: New York magazine, Vulture, The Cut, Vox.com, and the Vox Media Podcast Network (including Pivot) to James Murdoch's Lupa Systems for more than $300 million. That sale, revealed on May 20, left Vox's food, tech, sports, and lifestyle brands as a separate company, informally called RemainCo, which Pauley led. Today's acquisition by PMC effectively winds down the Vox Media entity that CEO Jim Bankoff built from its 2005 founding as SportsBlogs Inc.

Integration and strategy

The brands will continue to operate independently under the PMX umbrella, though similarly themed titles (like SB Nation and Sportico, or POPSUGAR and SHE Media) will be aligned to share functions. The deal also brings Vox's ad technology, Concert and Forte, into PMC's portfolio, offering bundling opportunities and first-party data-driven ad sales across the enlarged network. The acquisition solidifies PMC's strategy of diversification across entertainment, music, technology, sports, fashion, food, art, and luxury.