Paul Marshall expands right-wing media reach with £100 million Spectator takeover

The man behind GB News has agreed a £100 million takeover of the Spectator magazine, as he looks to consolidate his growing empire of British right-wing media. Paul Marshall, the hedge fund boss who also owns the Unherd website and is bidding for the Telegraph titles, acquired the world’s oldest extant magazine through his holding company, Old Queen Street Media. The price was well over analysts’ expectations of £40 million, and more than 30 times the magazine’s adjusted profits of £2.9 million on revenues of £20.8 million since 2022. The sum will be a relief for RedBird IMI: the Abu Dhabi-backed investment group originally paid £600 million for the Spectator and Telegraph titles but the sale was blocked by the last UK government. Freddie Sayers, editor of Unherd and chief executive of OQSM, said the two Conservative-leaning publications would “remain fully separate titles, with independent editorial and governance structures”.

Fraser Nelson, who’s been the Spectator’s editor since 2009, said the £100 million price tag was “a huge vote of confidence” in the outlet, adding: “After a long auction, the next chapter in our 196-year history can finally begin.”

Andrew Neil, the Spectator chair and (briefly) chair of GB News, has previously spoken out against hedge funds taking stakes in newspapers. He resigned with “immediate effect” as the sale was announced.

Some argue that Marshall’s high purchase price suggests he may take a more hands-on approach to editorial content than has been indicated so far. The official line is that he will chair the holding company but not sit on the board. An OQSM statement talks of “expanding the magazine’s reach in the Anglosphere and in North America”.

The second round of bids for the Telegraph titles is due by 27 September.

Those in the running include former minister Nadhim Zahawi, who is widely reported to have put together a consortium of backers; the investment firm CVC Capital Partners; and Paul Marshall, alongside the US billionaire and hedge fund founder Ken Griffin.