HEDGE-FUND billionaire Paul Marshall is reportedly set to ramp up his media empire building as he closes in on a multi-million pound deal to buy The Spectator magazine.
The Unherd founder and GB News investor has been in talks with the Tory bible’s Abu Dhabi-backed owners Redbird IMI for around a month and is expected to seal the deal within weeks, Politico reports.
It would be a coup for Marshall (below), who has been described as an “enthusiastic combatant” in the culture wars, given The Spectator’s influence among Conservative circles.
(Image: Public domain)
Marshall, a former LibDem member, was revealed last year to be behind an anonymous Twitter/X account which had liked an array of far-right posts, including tweets calling for mass deportations and predicting an impending civil war between “native Europeans” and “fake refugee invaders”.
He is reportedly willing to pay as much as £100 million for the magazine, though the Wall Street Journal said Marshall may pay more.
The Spectator in 2022 had a circulation of 93,000 and made a profit of nearly £1.8m that year, down from £2.2m the year before, the paper reported.
Marshall is said to have faced down a rival bid from Rupert Murdoch (above), the chairman emeritus of News Corp, which owns The Times and The Sun.
The Spectator and The Telegraph are up for sale after the titles were seized from the Barclay brothers by Lloyds Banking Group in a dispute over overdue loans worth £1.2bn.
The sale has proven politically contentious and the previous Government blocked Redbird IMI from taking over the titles, owing to concerns about the influence of the United Arab Emirates over the company.