Tech billionaire Marc Benioff buys Time for $190 million following in Jeff Bezos footsteps

Iconic US magazine Time has been sold for the second time in under a year, snapped up by technology billionaire Marc Benioff.

Benioff, co-founder of software firm Salesforce.com, and his wife are personally buying Time for $190 million (£145 million) from US media group Meredith Corporation. Meredith completed its purchase of Time in January.

Benioff tweeted: “The power of Time has always been in its unique storytelling of the people & issues that affect us all & connect us all. A treasure trove of our history & culture.” The deal could close within a month but must first get regulatory approval.

It is understood the Benioffs will not be involved in the day-to-day operations or journalistic decisions, though Marc Benioff openly supported Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

Benioff, who according to Forbes is worth $6.7 billion, becomes the latest tech billionaire to buy a struggling media publication. In 2013, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos purchased the Washington Post for $250 million, which was experiencing declining advertising revenue and readership, while earlier this year pharma billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong purchased the Los Angeles Times for $500 million.