Exclusive: Quartz sells again
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Quartz launch party, 2012. Photo: Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Quartz
G/O Media has sold business news brand Quartz and commerce site The Inventory to Canadian software firm Redbrick, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: This deal marks the fourth ownership change for Quartz over the past seven years. It also represents further erosion of G/O Media as it offloads nearly all of its assets.
Zoom in: Redbrick is buying Quartz as part of an effort to scale publishing sites using tech from its other portfolio companies, a similar model to that used by Recurrent Ventures, The Arena Group and others. In 2024, Redbrick launched Digital Entrepreneur, a biweekly interactive magazine.
- Quartz will serve as Redbrick's "foundation for expanding into next-generation media strategies," the company said in a statement on Friday.
- Redbrick said it will integrate Paved, a newsletter advertising platform it acquired last month, with Quartz to better monetize Quartz's newsletter subscription base "of more than one million opt-in members."
- Financial terms of the deal, which marks Redbrick's fifth major acquisition, were not disclosed.
What they're saying: "As the media landscape continues to shift, the only way to survive and thrive is by embracing the advancements in innovation to connect and engage with audiences," Redbrick CEO Tobyn Sowden said in a statement.
- "The way we connect with audiences is evolving and today marks a new chapter for Quartz as we work with Redbrick to help shape the future of media as the landscape rapidly transforms," Quartz editor in chief Dan Hirschhorn said.
Zoom out: Like many digital media startups from the 2010s, Quartz's business has suffered from inconsistent ownership.
- Quartz launched in 2012 as a digital-only news site targeting global business leaders.
- Atlantic Media sold Quartz in 2018 to Japanese business data and news firm Uzabase, which paid between $75 million and $110 million for the asset.
- Quartz's management bought the company back in 2020, with plans to reinvest in the outlet. In 2022, they sold Quartz to G/O Media, owned by private equity firm Great Hill Partners and formerly known as Gizmodo Media Group, for less than $10 million.
The big picture: The sale of Quartz and The Inventory marks a near completion of the unraveling of G/O Media's portfolio.
- A series of sales kicked off in 2023 with Ziff Davis buying Lifehacker and Paste Media acquiring Jezebel and Splinter. In 2024, Paste Media also bought The A.V. Club.
- Other 2024 sales included Static Media acquiring The Takeout and Jalopnik, Lineup Publishing buying Deadspin and Keleops acquiring Gizmodo. Global Tetrahedron, a new firm backed by former Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson, acquired The Onion.
What to watch: G/O Media's remaining brands are gaming news site Kotaku and Black news and culture brand The Root. Last month, former Activision Blizzard Robert Kotick sued G/O Media for defamation.
