Media: "Variety" owner adds Rolling Stone

Jann Wenner’s 50-year run as owner of Rolling Stone is coming to an end.

Jay Penske, whose media company owns Variety and Women’s Wear Daily, scored a deal Wednesday to buy a controlling stake in the rock ’n’ roll magazine for roughly $51 million — the last asset owned by the 71-year-old’s once-thriving media company.

Penske’s purchase values the magazine that Wenner started with a partner in 1967 with $7,500 borrowed from family members at $110 million.

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As part of the deal, Wenner will be editorial director and join the board of Penske Media Corp. — and keep a small equity stake. Gus Wenner, Jann’s son, will stay as president and COO of Rolling Stone.

The new owner plans to name a new editor-in-chief, and will keep the title as a consumer print magazine while trying to expand the brand through live-event programming and licensing.

“Our interest in Rolling Stone is driven by its people, its cultural significance and the globally recognized brand that has no peer in its areas of influence,” Penske told Deadline Hollywood.

“Like all of our investments, our holding period is a very long time. It’s forever,” Penske added.

“Rolling Stone’s past, present and future is in great storytelling and that’s where we want to put our investment,” Gus Wenner told the Financial Times.

“Jay has shown repeatedly that he has a deep belief in investing in content and investing in the product. This will allow us to do that in a way we haven’t been able to do over the last couple of years,” he added.

The Post reported on Dec. 5 that Penske was the leader in an auction for the storied title. Wenner put the mag on the block in September.

The Wenner stable of magazines has thinned recently, hurt by the tough print ad market and some self-inflicted wounds.

Wenner recently sold off Us Weekly and Men’s Journal to American Media to pare a huge debt load from his purchase of the remaining 50 percent stake in Us from Disney in 2006.

Then in June, the Rolling Stone name was scarred by a $1.7 million settlement after a 2014 story about an alleged rape on the University of Virginia campus proved to be mostly false.