Disney is taking a $157 million write-down on its investment in Vice Media, the company announced in its fourth-quarter earnings report Thursday.
Disney had originally invested a reported $400 million in 2015 at a valuation between $4 billion and $4.5 billion, sources told the Wall Street Journal at the time. This was in addition to a previous stake Disney had in Vice along with Hearst and A+E Networks.
On Wednesday, the Journal reported that Vice plans to reduce its workforce as much as 15 percent under new CEO Nancy Dubuc. Sources told the Journal revenue had remained fairly flat for the year at roughly $600 million to $650 million and is on track to lose over $50 million for the year.
Correction: Vice plans to reduce its workforce through attrition and reduced hiring, not layoffs.
