Laurene Powell Jobs Buys Majority Stake in The Atlantic

Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs,  is buying a majority stake in The Atlantic, the iconic political and cultural magazine that has also become a force in digital publishing.

Powell Jobs, 53, is buying the stake through her Emerson Collective LLC from Atlantic Media Chairman David Bradley, who will remain a minority owner, the publication said Friday.

Bradley, 64, will continue to own Atlantic Media’s other brands, including the National Journal, Government Executive, and the digital business-focused publication Quartz.

Through Emerson, Powell Jobs has focused on philanthropy, socially conscious investing, and media, including funding for Anonymous Content, a talent-management company behind the films “The Revenant” and “Spotlight,” and Within, a virtual-reality entertainment startup. Her net worth is valued at $18.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Emerson will probably eventually take full ownership of the Atlantic, along with its related consulting and live-events operations, the magazine said. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

Powell Jobs follows other luminaries from the tech world who have made forays into the old-guard publishing business, where they’ve had varying degrees of success, with the industry struggling to compete for advertising revenue in the era of Google and Facebook Inc. Chris Hughes, a Facebook co-founder, acquired a majority stake in the New Republic in 2012, then sold it last year after a turbulent run that included cutting production in half.

Amazon.com Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos acquired the Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million. He’s presided over an era of climbing digital subscriptions and renewed journalistic ambition, competing toe to toe with the New York Times for scoops about the Trump administration.

In a statement, Powell Jobs also hinted she wanted to support strong journalism, saying her goal was to “ensure that the Atlantic continues to fulfill its critical mission at this critical time.”