• by Ray Schultz , April 16, 2021

A paid digital subscription company is being launched by a team that includes Jon Kelly, a former Vanity Fair editor, and Joe Purzycki, co-founder of Luminary, the podcast company. 

Journalists would share in the subscription revenue, based on a plan that will help them use audio, newsletters and live events to build their audiences, Axios reports. 

Top writers who report on the power players from New York to Hollywood are being offered equity and a percentage of the subscription revenue they generate, according to The New York Times. An algorithm will determine who brings in a subscription.  

“Think of it as Vanity Fair meets Substack,” the Times writes.  

The product, which could appear in four months, is being launched with a Series A funding round led by 40 North Media and private equity firm TPG Growth, 

Kelly will be editor-in-chief. Purzycki will serve as CEO and head up technology. Max Tcheyan will be responsible for marketing. 

In addition, two board seats will be occupied by David Winter, former CEO of Standard Industries, and Jim Coulter, former CEO of TPG. 

The annual subscription fee would be $100, and this might cover a daily newsletter, a website and events, according to the Times. One name being mulled is Puck, the name of a humor magazine published in the. U.S. in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

The Times and Axios stories are based on unnamed sources. MediaPost was unable to confirm the reports at deadline.