Vice Media announced it will lay off “several hundred” employees as it faces an impending sale.
Vice Media’s CEO Bruce Dixon wrote in a memo that the decision did not come lightly.
He wrote, “This decision was not made lightly.”
Dixon also shared that Refinery 29 “will continue to operate as a standalone diversified digital publishing business, creating engaging, social-first content.”
“As you know, we are in advanced discussions to sell this business, and we are continuing with that process,” he continued.
“We expect to announce more on that in the coming weeks,” warned the CEO.
Vice had previously announced plans to file for bankruptcy in 2021 after being valued at $5 billion but failing to find a buyer to avoid bankruptcy.
It has faced challenges in recent years including sexual harassment allegations against executives.
In 2015 Disney considered buying Vice but no deal transpired.
The company’s current executives have not indicated plans to shut down Vice News, which the executive editor called “completely reprehensible.”
Vice aims to complete a sale and restructuring in the coming weeks amid its financial difficulties.
Vice News executive editor, Josh Visser said, “I don’t know more than you guys besides being able to read faces and notice who is not replying to my messages.”
He continued, “Our website and our work being pulled down would be completely reprehensible … I cannot even understand any business reasons why you would do something like that.”
