Up in the Air

What intrinsic value does Air Mail have once the 75-year-old Graydon Carter is no longer actively involved? "It's smoke and mirrors," commented one media executive.

Author

Oliver Darcy
October 02, 2024

The Air Mail website.

How much would Air Mail be worth without Graydon Carter at the helm?

That's a question potential buyers are sure to ask as bankers with The Raine Group openly shop the outlet. The elevated digital magazine, which tried to quietly find a suitor earlier this year but is now formally on the market, was built largely off the sterling reputation of Carter, the revered tastemaker who founded Spy Magazine and then went on to serve as the longtime top editor of Vanity Fair.

Carter, drawing upon his vast network after spending decades at the highest levels of the media industry, brought with him an affluent audience and high-end advertisers when he founded the subscription-based outlet in 2019. The marriage of a premium audience with luxury brands had been a key selling point to investors at TPG Growth, Standard Investments, and RedBird Capital Partners, which have fueled the publication's growth with $32 million in capital over two rounds of funding.

But those investors want an exit — and it seems Air Mail is having at least some trouble finding one. Earlier this year, Semafor’s Maxwell Tani reported that the company was in talks with Standard for a $50 million acquisition.

The talks, however, fell through, raising the question: Who is going to purchase the outlet? And, perhaps more importantly…

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