Why Skills-First Leadership Is Replacing the Ivy League Playbook in the C-Suite
05/23/2025
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The old prestige pyramid—where Ivy League degrees and blue-chip consulting backgrounds paved the way to the CEO seat—is cracking.
May 16, 2023: On Monday, Vice Media Group filed for bankruptcy protection following years of financial troubles.
A consortium of Vice’s lenders, including Fortress Investment, Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital, is looking to need the company following the filing.
The digital media trailblazer, once valued at $5.7 billion and known for sites including Vice and Motherboard, reconstructed and cuts jobs across its global news business over the latest months.
The group set to buy the firm will provide $225 million through a credit bid for the extreme of Vice Media’s assets, which the firm announced on Monday, along with significant liabilities.
Vice is one of many digital media and technology companies forced to restructure this year between a sluggish economy and a low advertising market. The previous month, Buzzfeed shuttered its news division and started substantial layoffs.
Established in Canada 1994 as a fringe magazine, Vice expanded worldwide with youth-focused content and a prominent social media presence. However, it endured several years of financial troubles as tech giants like Google and Meta vacuumed up global ad spend.
Vice is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Bankruptcy Court of the U.S. for the Southern District of New York to facilitate its sale. If the application allows, other parties can bid for the company. Credit bids enable creditors to swap secured debt for company assets rather than pay cash.
The consortium’s bid includes a commitment of $20 million in cash to enable Vice’s operations to continue throughout the sale process. The company said it is expected to conclude within two to three months.
Vice said its various multi-platform media brands would continue to operate, including Vice News, Vice TV, Pulse Films, Virtue, Refinery29 and i-D. At the same time, its international entities and Vice TV’s joint venture with A&E are not part of the Chapter 11 filing.
Vice Co-CEOs Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala said the sale process will “strengthen the firm and position VICE for long-term growth.”
“We will have the recent ownership, a simplified capital structure and the ability to manage without the legacy liabilities burdening our business,” they added.
The old prestige pyramid—where Ivy League degrees and blue-chip consulting backgrounds paved the way to the CEO seat—is cracking.
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