Rolling Stone is being put up for sale, according to the New York Times. Ahead of the magazine’s 50th anniversary, founder Jann Wenner has decided to relinquish ownership to the highest bidder.
“I love my job, I enjoy it, I’ve enjoyed it for a long time,” Wenner told the New York Times. But letting go, he added, was “just the smart thing to do.”
“There’s a level of ambition that we can’t achieve alone,” Wenner’s son, Gus, noted. “So we are being proactive and want to get ahead of the curve. Publishing is a completely different industry than what it was. The trends go in one direction, and we are very aware of that.”
Last year, the Wenners sold a 49 percent stake in Rolling Stone to BandLab Technologies, a music technology company based in Singapore. For the remaining 51 percent, Janner Wenner said he hoped to find a buyer that understood Rolling Stone’s mission and that had “lots of money,” according to the Times.
Both Jann and Gus Wenner hope to stay on with Rolling Stone following its sale, but said the decision will be left up to the new owner.
