Vice's Shane Smith Is Now a Billionaire

Chief executive officer owns about a fifth of the company
Private equity firm has invested $450 million in Vice

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By Tom Metcalf and Lucas Shaw

June 20, 2017 at 8:40 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Vice Chief Executive Officer Shane Smith, who has long touted himself as the antithesis of a traditional media tycoon, now has at least one thing in common with Rupert Murdoch and Sumner Redstone: He’s a billionaire.

The 47-year-old Smith joined Murdoch, 86, and Redstone, 94, as one of the world’s richest media barons this week after Vice Media Inc. got a $450 million investment from private equity firm TPG, a deal that valued the edgy chronicler of youth culture at $5.7 billion.