A rare opportunity to acquire a significant stake in The Economist is coming to a head this week, as potential buyers prepare to submit expressions of interest by Friday’s deadline for the Rothschild family’s 27% holding, according to three people familiar with the matter.

An exclusive Reuters report detailed that at least a dozen parties, including high-net-worth individuals and major media companies, have shown early interest in the stake, one of the sources said.

This marks the first time in nearly a decade that a stake of this magnitude has been made available in the 182-year-old British publication. The last such sale occurred in 2015 when Britain’s Pearson sold its 50% stake to Exor, the holding company of Italy’s Agnelli family, for £469 million ($531 million), ending a six-decade ownership.

According to the report, Philanthropist Lynn Forester de Rothschild is putting the Rothschild banking family’s stake up for sale, three years after the death of her husband, Evelyn de Rothschild, who chaired The Economist from 1972 to 1989.

The stake on offer includes around 20% of the company’s voting shares, making it a powerful, though not controlling, position. The Agnelli family’s Exor currently holds the largest share, with a 43.4% stake.

Rothschild exit marks end of era

Founded in 1843, The Economist has long maintained a unique ownership model. Its structure ensures editorial independence by prohibiting any single shareholder from gaining a controlling interest in the parent company. 

According to Reuters, the sale process is complicated by these strict governance rules, which are designed to shield editorial decision-making from shareholder influence. With approximately 1,000 individual shareholders and tightly held voting shares, The Economist remains one of the most protected media brands globally.

The Rothschild stake could value The Economist at approximately £800 million ($1.06 billion), according to a person familiar with the matter. The publication is reportedly profitable and growing its subscription base.

For the six months ending September 30, 2025, The Economist reported revenue of £170 million and an operating profit of £20 million, an increase of 23% compared to the previous year, according to the report. 

The sale comes amid a tightening UK media landscape, where opportunities to buy into prominent outlets are increasingly rare. Recently, the UK government blocked foreign ownership of newspapers, halting a joint £500 million ($658.5 million) bid by US-based RedBird Capital and Abu Dhabi-backed IMI for the Telegraph Media Group. The Daily Mail’s parent company, DMGT, ultimately stepped in to acquire it.

As one US media executive put it, owning a stake in The Economist isn’t just about business, it’s about prestige. "Even if you’re at Davos, it’s crowded. But The Economist gets you respect," they said, adding: "It will open a lot of interesting doors."