David Bradley, 64-year-old CEO and owner of Atlantic Media, is selling a majority stake in The Atlantic to the Emerson Collective, the philanthropic arm of Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple's Steve Jobs.
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He will retain a minority stake in the magazine and continue as chairman and operating partner for three to five years. It's anticipated that Emerson will take full ownership in five years.
In a memo to staffers, Bradley wrote that he's been thinking of the future of the Atlantic for the past two years. "As Katherine’s and my three sons reached majority, we came to understand that we did not have a next generation interested in media. Katherine and I would need to look farther afield," he wrote.
He assembled a team of researchers to identify new ownership of the 160-year-old magazine. The list topped 600 names.
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David Bradley & Laurene Powell JobsPowell Jobs was the only person approached because her selection felt "incomparably right,” noted Bradley.
Powell Jobs, 53, launched Emerson in 2004 to invest in both nonprofit and entrepreneurial groups that back immigration and education reform. Emerson also has investments in media such as Anonymous Content (movie production) and The California Sunday Magazine.
Emerson also has supported non-profit journalism outlets such Marshall Project and ProPublica.
In a statement, Powell Jobs praised The Atlantic for its role to “bring about equality for all people; to illuminate and defend the American idea; to celebrate American culture and literature; and to cover our marvelous, and sometimes messy, democratic experiment.”
Emerson's Peter Lattman, former deputy business editor at the New York Times, will serve as vice chairman of the Atlantic.
Powell Jobs is expected to visit the Atlantic offices in New York and Washington in September.
Bradley purchased The Atlantic for $10M from real estate mogul Mort Zuckerman.
He continues as owner of AMproperties - National Journal Group, Government Executive Media Group and Quartz.
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