According to persons familiar with the situation, Salesforce co-founder Marc Benioff is in negotiations to sell Time to the Greek media giant Antenna Group.
The persons, who requested not to be named since the conversations are private, stated that no deal is certain and that the talks are still in their early stages.
A Time representative who would not comment on the discussions with Antenna stated, “There is no agreement to sell Time.” A representative for Antenna Group did not reply to a request for comment.
In 2018, Time was purchased by Benioff for $190 million. According to one of the persons, the price of $150 million has been the focus of early discussions with Antenna.
The discussions take place at a particularly tumultuous moment for traditional media firms, who are attempting to maintain their position as digital-first assets in the face of competition from free platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.
Comcast declared on Thursday that it is thinking about splitting off its cable network division. According to NPR, the Washington Post, which is owned by fellow tech billionaire Jeff Bezos, has seen a decline in its readership of over 10% in recent days following its decision to not support a candidate in the U.S. presidential election.
Meredith Corp. held Time for less than a year when Benioff and his wife, Lynne, purchased the magazine.
At the time, Alan Murray, chief content officer of the Time Inc. brands at Meredith, stated that the Benioffs were the most suitable as they were prepared to choose journalistic integrity over financial benefit.
Before Vice Media filed for bankruptcy in 2022, the Antenna Group came very close to purchasing the firm. Although it has invested in Arianna Huffington’s technology business Thrive Global, the majority of its investments have been focused on Europe.
