It has been almost a year since Condé Nast announced the sale of W, Golf Digest, and Brides. Originally, the company wanted to offload the titles by the end of 2018. Last month, Golf and Brides confirmed sales within one day of each other to Discovery Inc. and Dotdash, respectively. That just leaves W. WWD reports that it is finally close to being sold to the owners of Surface. But before anyone gets too excited, the deal is said to be on somewhat shaky ground.
Apparently, Stefano Tonchi and other “higher-profile staff” are now holding out due to Surface CEO Marc Lotenberg’s professional history. The staff is worried about cuts, and Surface‘s alleged high turnover rates and “difficult” workplace culture. Depending on how much of the staff is resistant to the sale — or how important Tonchi is to the deal — it is thought this might pose an issue for the sale.
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The question of who will buy W Magazine has been discussed since last August. Previously, it was reported that Adrien Cheng of C Ventures (and the CFDA’s new global ambassador) was in talks to buy the publication. Before that, rumors swirled that Tonchi himself was gathering financing to buy it. For the time being, Condé Nast is still financing its production.
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