Nancy Dubuque steps down as VP of Media after 5 years

Cash-strapped Vice Media loses its chief executive as the Brooklyn-based company prepares to put itself up for sale.

Nancy Dubuque stepped down as vice president on Friday after helping clean up the company’s reputation as a toxic workplace during her five-year reign.

A spokesperson for Dubuque declined to comment but said her contract had expired. Vice has not commented on the executive’s contract or who will replace her.

“Nancy joined Vice at a defining moment and has formed an exceptional team that has ensured the company’s long-term success,” the company’s board of directors said in a statement. “We thank Nancy for her great contributions and will soon announce new leadership to help Vice move to the next phase of growth and transformation.”

The news of Dubuque’s departure was first reported by Deadline.

Former CEO of A+E, Dubuc joined Vice in 2018, replacing co-founder Shane Smith, who became executive chairman.

When she joined the company, she battled multiple allegations of sexual harassment in a male-dominated workplace. Vice, which has struggled to show rapid growth to match its inflated $5.7 billion valuation, has also run into a severe revenue shortfall and faced constant exodus from executives.

During her tenure, Dubuque undertook a massive restructuring of the company and improved its balance sheet.

“I’m proud to have left Vice better than the one I joined,” Dubouc said in a note to staff on Friday. “We have halved our overheads while improving the quality of our revenues by increasing profitability and growing recurring revenues.”

She continued, “Most importantly, while there is still a lot of work to be done, Vice is a more diverse and inclusive environment than ever.”

Despite Vice’s financial improvements, the beleaguered company, whose assets include Vice News, Motherboard, Refinery29 and Vice TV, struggles in a challenging advertising environment that is squeezing publishers.

Dubuc told the New York Times last month that Vice is still unprofitable and that it will likely lay off employees this year, joining digital publishers like BuzzFeed, Bustle Digital Group and Vox Media. Citing a source, the newspaper said Vice made $600 million last year — $100 million short of its $700 million target.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Vice recently received a $30 million loan from the Fortress Group to help it pay off the millions of dollars it owes to vendors and consultants, some of whom have not been paid for more than six months.

Last month, Vice’s board announced a sale process – whether it would be a full-company acquisition, strategic recapitalization, or other asset-specific deals.

The plans came after a May 2022 report that Vice had hired financial advisers to put the company up for sale.

Founded as Vice Magazine in 1994 by the famed Smith, the company has steadily moved into video and television. By 2013, Vice had its own weekly news show on HBO. Three years later, she launched the cable channel Viceland, which saw its ratings plummet.

Under Smith, Vice had high hopes of becoming a $1 billion media juggernaut by 2015. the female staff that tarnished the company and its founder.

Vice’s fortunes were deteriorating, and by 2019 the HBO show and cable channel had been cancelled, news was leaked that Vice had set aside $1.87 million to settle a class action lawsuit over pay inequality filed by female employees and Smith was replaced by Dubuk.