Vice raised a billion dollars, and then went bankrupt
This self-described stoner founded Vice Media, raised over a billion dollars, and then went bankrupt.
Shane Smith co-founded Vice Media in 1994 because he believed subjective reporting in an authentic voice can reveal deeper truth than strict facts.
He did stories in hard-to-access places like North Korea, and even interviewed Obama.
Between 2011 and 2017 Vice raised over $1 billion dollars.
But in 2017, Shane pulled out $100 million for himself and went on a spending spree.
He spent $300,000 on a single dinner in Vegas, bought an $11 million dollar mansion in Malibu, and even bought a mountain in Costa Rica.
At the same time, digital platforms like Youtube and TikTok were pulling the viral attention away from Vice.
Digital traffic got cut in half, and Vice started missing payments to vendors.
This week Vice filed for bankruptcy.