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In the 2010s VICE was framed as 'peak hipster' American culture; cofounder Gavin…

2026-08-05 · 13:08 UTC ·@Timcast ·1 min read

Brief

Vice's rise and fall: Timcast (2026-08-05) highlights a deep insider profile by @BCC_Mitchell, a 2012 hire, that traces VICE's leap from a Montreal alt magazine to HBO and near-$6B valuation, followed by a culture of drug-fueled meetings, publicity stunts (CEO tossed $1M cash), a pivot to 'chasing woke' clicks, and bankruptcy roughly a decade later.

Why it matters

In the 2010s VICE was framed as 'peak hipster' American culture; cofounder Gavin McInnes later founded the Proud Boys and was banned from most social platforms for 'hate speech.'

Key details

  • VICE grew from a Montreal alt magazine to an HBO show and attracted investment from Rupert Murdoch and Disney, reaching an estimated almost $6 billion valuation before becoming bankrupt about a decade later.
  • @BCC_Mitchell, Vice's youngest employee in 2012, provides an insider account of drug-fueled editorial meetings, a CEO who once threw $1M in cash at staff at a holiday party, the team 'chasing woke for clicks,' and the CEO abandoning what made the company famous.
Source evidence

This is a 100% MUST READ

Dude Nails the rise and fall of VICE

Super informative to how the media ecosystem was spiking and how it changed

Pirate Wires (@PirateWires)

In the 2010s, VICE was peak hipster American culture.

The brand was known for loudly breaking taboos. Its cofounder, Gavin McInnes, would go on to found the Proud Boys and get banned from basically every social media platform for “hate speech.”

By the mid-2010s, what began as an alt magazine in Montreal had landed an HBO show and convinced Rupert Murdoch and Disney to invest. It was, at one point, worth almost $6 billion.

A decade later, it was bankrupt.

@BCC_Mitchell, the youngest employee at Vice in 2012, takes us inside their rise and fall — from drug-fueled editorial meetings, to the CEO throwing $1m in cash at staff during a holiday party, to the team starting to chase ‘woke’ for clicks…

…to, eventually, the CEO himself abandoning what made the company famous in the first place.

“Vice was a cult,” Mitchell writes. “It was also the best business school on Earth.”

Below, the deepest insider profile yet of a 2010s media giant 👇

— https://nitter.net/PirateWires/status/2084741919842898419#m