Vice Media names Dubuc replacements, closes French office

Vice Media Group has appointed existing Vice executives Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala as co-CEOs following the departure of Nancy Dubuc.

Lokhandwala has been chief strategy officer at Vice since October 2018, while Dixon has been chief financial officer since 2021 and was previously CFO of Vice Studios.

Following the departure of Dubuc, the pair will lead the strategic and creative direction of the group.

“Hozefa and Bruce are incredibly experienced and deeply talented executives who enjoy the full trust of Vice’s leadership team and Board, and are the right individuals to lead Vice forward. With their combined 10 years of experience at Vice, and their long commitment to the company’s brand, mission and operations, they’re perfectly positioned to guide the company through this next important stage of growth,” said the board in a prepared statement.

Dixon and Lokhandwala said: “We’re both passionately committed to bringing the brand, business operations and creative spirit of Vice forward into the future, and we’re excited and grateful for this opportunity to continue to work closely with the Board and VMG’s exceptional management team. This is an era of tremendous change for media companies, and Vice’s unique brand of news, entertainment and lifestyle content has never been more relevant. We look forward to building on its success as we chart the next exciting chapter for the company.”

Separately, Vice is to close its French office at the end of March after 15 years.

News of the closure was revealed by French editor in chief Paul Douard in a tweet.

Douard expressed his “frustration in losing a media outfit with a tone, freedom and audacious choices – something rare today”.

Vice Media employees about 30 people in its French bureau.

Vice recently relaunched a project to sell the company after talks with Greek broadcast group Antenna Group stalled, with Dubuc creating an ad hoc committee to fund a buyer for the struggling media outfit.

The Wall St Journal recently reported that Vice missed its revenue goal of US$700 million last year by around US$100 million.