Wenner Media, the company founded by publisher Jann Wenner, is selling its controlling stake in the iconic music and culture magazine Rolling Stone, citing a desire “to best position the brand for future growth.”
The news comes one year after Wenner Media sold 49 percent of Rolling Stone to BandLab Technologies, a digital music company based in Singapore.
“Rolling Stone is a uniquely powerful brand with enormous opportunities to succeed in today’s environment,” said Gus Wenner, president and chief operating officer of Wenner Media and Jann Wenner’s son.
He said in a statement that the company has “made great strides transforming Rolling Stone into a multi-platform company.”
Wenner Media says Rolling Stone reaches more than 60 million people each month through multiple platforms (from social media to videos), and that its online traffic has grown by nearly 50 percent over the past three years.