Bridgeman Sports and Media Buys Ebony Magazine in Bankruptcy Auction

Bridgeman Sports and Media has purchased Ebony Magazine for $14 million. On Christmas Eve, a Houston bankruptcy court announced that the company was the successful bidder for the famous magazine’s assets. The court is expected to formally approve the sale on Tuesday.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the company believes that “with the right ideas” Ebony can be restored to its former glory. Bridgeman Sports and Media is currently owned by retired Milwaukee Bucks star, Ulysses “Junior” Bridgeman.

Since his retirement from basketball in 1987, Bridgeman has become a successful businessman. He has owned more than 100 restaurant franchises, included multiple Chili’s and Wendy’s. In 2017, he sold his restaurant interests to become a regional bottler and distributor for the Coca Cola Company.

The sale of the magazine also ends a tumultuous period for one of Black America’s most celebrated publications. In July of this year, after ousting CEO Willard Jackson, Ebony was forced into involuntary bankruptcy for failure to pay $10 million in loans.

Founded in 1945, Ebony Magazine rose to prominence as the premier publication spotlighting Black American life and culture. For more than seventy years, the magazine has featured some of the most celebrated figures in the Black community, including Oprah Winfrey, Beyonce, Barack Obama and Denzel Washington.

In 2016, things began to turn south for the famous magazine. Its founder, Johnson Publishing, sold Ebony and Jet to a private equity group, CVG Capital. With no experience in media or magazine publishing, Ebony quickly declined under CVG’s ownership. In 2018, CVG was forced to settle a high-profile lawsuit with freelancers for claims of unpaid compensation. By 2019, the magazine had ceased publication and auctioned off its historic photo archive. The photo archive was later purchased by a group of foundations and donated to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History.