Condé Nast finally found buyer for fashion bible W Magazine

Surface Media, which publishes an avant-garde quarterly magazine and website covering design and architecture, is said to be close to finalising a deal to purchase Conde Nast’s W Magazine for around $7 million. Surface Media is headed by chief executive Marc Lotenberg, who got his start in journalism in college in Texas. Then, he bounced around the country from Los Angeles to Nashville and back to Texas, where he started 944 Magazine, a cutting-edge fashion and lifestyle title that lasted from 2001 until 2011.

Marc also spent some time working in digital media on ‘The Colbert Report’ in New York. Two years ago, he took over as CEO of Surface Media, whose publication has been around since the 1990s and has passed through a variety of ownerships. At one point, Condé thought it had a deal for W Magazine with billionaire Hong Kong businessman Adrian Cheng Chi-kong and his C Ventures, but that sale fell through.