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Jann Wenner, co-founder, editor and publisher of Rolling Stone, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2017, is looking for a buyer for his controlling stake in the magazine.
The announcement follows Wenner Media’s sale of 49 percent of Rolling Stone to Singapore-based digital music company BandLab Technologies last year. The company has also shed several other titles recently. In June, it sold Men’s Journal to National Enquirer publisher American Media, which also bought Us Weekly from Wenner in March.
Once the home to such writers as Hunter S. Thompson and Tom Wolfe, Rolling Stone suffered a blow to its credibility in 2014, when it had to retract a story about an alleged gang rape on the University of Virginia campus.
While the magazine has had to contend with the problems facing all print media, its sales remain relatively healthy. The Alliance for Audited Media says that Rolling Stone’s paid circulation has held steady at 1.5 million since 2014.
While both Wenner and his son Gus, who is the title’s president and chief operating officer, told the Times they plan to stay at the magazine, they acknowledged that the ultimate decision on that will be up to any potential new owner.
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