The handwriting has been on the wall for a long time, but Rolling Stone is going up for sale, courtesy of its majority-interest controlling owner and publisher, Jann Wenner. Wenner, who made himself into a celebrity over the course of decades publishing the once-edgy magazine that covered music and pop culture, is also hoping that some deep pockets will take over the magazine.

Jann Wenner is ending his half-century reign over Rolling Stone — the magazine is going up for sale https://t.co/GA3Svr0WEm

— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 18, 2017

Wenner Media has hired bankers to explore its sale, but the process is just beginning. BandLab’s stake in the company could also complicate matters. Neither Jann nor Gus Wenner would name any potential buyers, but one possible suitor is American Media Inc., the magazine publisher led by David J. Pecker that has already taken Us Weekly and Men’s Journal off Wenner Media’s hands.

The Wenners said that they expected a range of opportunities, and Jann Wenner said he hoped to find a buyer that understood Rolling Stone’s mission and that had “lots of money.”
“Rolling Stone has played such a role in the history of our times, socially and politically and culturally,” he said. “We want to retain that position.”

Yes, who wouldn’t want to buy a magazine with such a rich and storied history of trying to make terrorists into dreamy hipsters?