It is being reported that retired NBA star, Magic Johnson, is in talks to acquire Johnson Publishing, Co., the home of Ebony and Jet magazines. Speculation rose late last year that the publishing house was struggling in the wake of the economy and the downturn of print media. While the talks are private, a source has stated that the Chicago headquarters of Johnson Publishing, Co. will also be included in the sale.
According to Bloomberg.com:
“There have been discussions,” Eric Holoman, president of Los Angeles-based Magic Johnson Enterprises, said in an interview. “There’s no definitive agreement.” He declined to comment further.
Johnson, 50, would fold the publisher into Magic Johnson Enterprises, said a person with knowledge of the discussions. The company he founded while a player with the Los Angeles Lakers has partnerships with Starbucks Corp., 24 Hour Fitness Worldwide Inc. and T.G.I. Friday’s Inc. Ad revenue at Ebony declined 38 percent to $35.5 million last year on a 39 percent drop in ad pages, according to Publishers Information Bureau.
Johnson Publishing, founded by John H. Johnson in 1942, has a remarkable legacy of capturing the life of African-Americans in the pages of Ebony and Jet when mainstream media ignored it.
John H. Johnson died in 2005 and wife, Eunice Johnson, overseer of the Ebony Fashion Fair died in January. Their daughter, Linda Johnson Rice, currently serves as chairman and chief executive officer of the company.
According to Johnson spokeswoman, Wendy Parks, “Johnson Rice has never talked to Magic Johnson with respect to his interest in buying” the company.”
Jenifer Moore contributed to this report
Article by FreshXpress Staff
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I couldn’t care less about why he’s doing Rent-A-Center commercials or whether or not he’s going to take over some magazine…what I really want to know is “Magic, How is it that you can pass an AIDS test and there’s millions of people (especially people of african decent) dying from it everyday?”