Rich Fiscus
21 May 2008 13:15
Well known tech site Ars Technica has been purchased by magazine publisher Condè Nast, whose other properties include Wired magazine. Ars Technica will become part of Wired Digital, which is also responsible for Wired.com. The price wasn't disclosed, but is rumored to be $25 million.
In a statement to the Ars Technica community on May 19, Editor-in-Chief and co-founder Ken Fisher wrote "Ars Technica will remain an independent publication, with the same editorial leadership in place. I will remain the Editor-in-Chief, and Jon, Eric, and the rest of the editorial team is staying on board, too" referring to Senior Editor (now Deputy Editor) and co-founder Jon Stokes and Managing Editor Eric Bangeman.
According to Fisher the sale will mean an immediate expansion of the site's operation, including hiring more staff in more locations. They plan to have offices open in both Chicago and San Francisco in just weeks. He says they're already going through "notebooks full of ideas for Ars Technica from over the years" to take immediate advantage of having Wired Digital's resources behind them.
The reported $25 million price tag for Ars Technica is the same amount the publisher paid to purchase Wired.com from Lycos in 2006. Wired Digital, including the Wired News (Wired.com) website were sold to Lycos by Condè Nast in 1998 for more than $80 million.